Everything's Perfect
by RositaLG
Summary: Logan brings Rory home to meet his cousin...Sparks fly, TRORY!
1. Paths Cross

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing

This is my first fic…So be brutally honest, if you love it, tell me and if you hate it, tell me!

Everything was just perfect. Tristan DuGray was on his way to Hartford. Everything about that statement made him sick to his stomach. He hated it there. He was happy in North Carolina, he had friends and he was as far away from his family as possible. Spring break should be spent somewhere warm. Somehow he had gotten roped into spending it with his cousin in Hartford. The Huntzbergers had a very good way of manipulating words to their own advantage.

Rory Gilmore was sitting in her apartment staring at Logan like he was crazy.

"Let me get this right. You want me to spend spring break with you and your family?"

"I know it sounds like a drag, but I think it would be fun to spend some alone time with you. We'll invite Finn and Colin over for a party. It'll be great."

"There's something seriously up with this plan." She said staring at him.

"Ok, honestly? My mom invited my cousin to Hartford and I kind of have to stick around and hang out with him. Which isn't a bad thing. He's a great guy and all, but it kind of puts a damper on the break." She sighed. Well if someone else is going to be there, it might not be so bad.

"Fine." She said defeatedly. Her mom was going to be pretty pissed. Logan had a very good way of manipulating words to his own advantages.

"Tristan! Nice to have you back in Hartford!"

"Thanks Aunt Shira" He said with a polite smile on his face. He wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower and sleep for a week.

"How was your flight?" she asked as the doorman took his bags upstairs.

"Terrible, actually. If you don't mind, I'd like to freshen up before dinner."

"Of course, your guest room is all ready. You remember where it is dear?"

"Yeah, Thanks Aunt Shira." He walked begrudgingly up the stairs.

"Oh Tristan!" He stopped and painfully turned around. He knew that something was up. "Logan and his girlfriend are running late it seems. They should be here any minute."

"Ok." He went upstairs to take his shower. He finally felt better when he was walking down the stairs. A good stiff drink is exactly what he needed. So Logan was bringing home a girl. It must be pretty serious, he thought.

"DuGray, get your ass down here!" He heard Logan say from the bottom of the stairs.

"Huntzberger." He acknowledged with a smile. He hugged him and Tristan laughed.

"Come here. There's someone I want you to meet."

"The Mystery Girl?" He raised his eyebrow as he watched Logan walk into the sitting room.

"Yeah," He turned "Ace, Come here, I want you to meet someone." She turned around and saw a very good looking Tristan DuGray standing next to Logan.

"Tristan?" She smiled to ease the tension in her body

"Mary," he whispered to himself. She saw her former nickname on his lips. "Rory Gilmore." She walked up to him and hugged him.

"You learned my name?" She whispered

"Not in front of my cousin, he'd kill me. Besides I think Ace is a more fitting title now." He laughed as she blushed. Somethings never change, her outstanding innocence was gone, but she still was shy. Logan saw them whispering and immediately broke the moment between the two.

"How do you two know each other?"

"We went to Chilton together," Rory said as she found her way into the arms of Logan. It's safer here, she thought. I can't get into trouble with Logan around my arm.

"We used to make each other miserable." Tristan said.

"Hey! I never made your life miserable! You were the one who did the tormenting." She said.

"You have no idea what you are talking about," Tristan said with a wink. "She refused to go out with me." He told his cousin.

"Well, it's good to know she has a good judge of character." He laughed. They ate supper and caught up. Tristan was at UNC. He graduated from military school and loved North Carolina so much he stayed. He was going to be an architect. Rory was shocked at the man standing in front of her. It seemed like just yesterday when he was driving her crazy. The kiss by the piano, the Romeo and Juliet fiasco. 'So I'd kiss you goodbye but your boyfriend's watching.' She had wished that he would have just done it anyway. If she remembered correctly, he was a phenomenal kisser.

"What are you thinking about so intently?" Logan asked as he glanced her way.

"Nothing. Just trying to remember the last time I saw Tristan." She glanced his way and saw how he well he looked. He was happy, that much was true.

"Well, I'm beat. I had a long flight, so I'm just going to excuse myself a little early," Tristan said as he got up. A chorus of goodnights came his way as he made his way to the staircase.

"Tristan!" He heard her voice and immediately obeyed against his will.

"Coming to tuck me in, Mary?" He smirked.

"Can I ask you something?" She looked hesitant.

"Anything." She bit her lip and he inwardly groaned. This was going to be harder than he thought.

"Will you meet me later? After Logan goes to bed, maybe out on the patio? It's been so good to talk with you again, but it's been pretty limited. I just want to do it in a more private environment and get to the real you, and not the politically correct version." She was babbling, and she knew it.

"Of course, out on the patio. And I know exactly what you mean." He kissed her cheek and walked up the stairs. She turned around and saw Logan standing in the doorway.

"What was that all about?" He asked in a jealous tone.

"I was just telling him how good it was to see him again. It's amazing, you don't realize you miss people until they come back around." She said as she walked over to him. She kissed him and yawned. "I'm exhausted. You coming to bed?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

"I'll be waiting." She said with a definite look in her eye.


	2. Late Nights

Disclaimer: I don't own a thing

This is my first fic…So be brutally honest, if you love it, tell me and if you hate it, tell me!

Rory slipped out from underneath Logan's arm and got dressed. She tiptoed out of the room with a blanket around her like a shawl. She found him on the porch swing, reading. He had a pen behind his ear. He was wearing glasses and looked extremely focused. She can't remember ever seeing him focused on anything. She took the mental picture and smiled. She would sit here forever and just watch him if she could.

"Hey," He said as he looked up, removing his glasses.

"What are you reading?" She asked. He held up the front cover. "The Great Gatsby." It was torn and well-used.

"I thought it fitting." He smiled and her heart jumped.

"In more ways than one. I don't think there could have been a better choice actually." She smiled at him.

"Come, come, sit down." He said as he swung his legs over the swing, making room for her.

"So, how did it happen. How did you get to be who you are today?" She said curious.

"Jump right into it then?" He said. She smiled and nodded. If there was anyone who would understand his story, it was Rory. He nodded and smirked. "Well then, where to begin?" He glanced her way.

"The night you left. The last thing you said to me was and I quote 'So I'd kiss you goodbye, but your boyfriend's watching." He finished it with her. "That's right. Did you mean it?"

He smiled, "Of course I did. I was crazy about you Rory. You knew that. You and I…we always clicked. Even when we were driving each other crazy."

"I missed you a lot when you left." She smiled. "And I would have let you kiss me, I can't say I wasn't disappointed when you turned and walked away." He stared at her.

"Really, hmm. Well you should have told me. I definitely could have made that happen for you."

"I bet." She started playing with the edge of the blanket. "Military school did this miracle work then?"

"In a way. I had to be myself, and that actually was a pretty hard thing for me to be. I had grown up in a world where you chose your mask to match your outfit." She giggled. "But I did well in military school. I really liked it actually and I made some great friends."

"Did you learn to read there too?" He smiled as she looked at his book.

"No girls and a lot of thinking time."

"Ah." She smiled.

"Enough about me, how did you wind up at Yale dating Logan Huntzberger?" He said in a shocked voice. "Who might I add, is the quintessential high school version of me. What happened to Bagboy?"

"Well, I got accepted to Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, but Yale was the winner, and it was closer to my mom. Dean got married and then told me he was separated, we slept together, and we had a 'fling'." She said using her hands to gesticulate. The hurt was evident in her voice but she kept her composure. Tristan was completely caught off-guard. He grabbed her hand.

"I'm so sorry." She let the silence reign for a little while and she said, "Don't tell Logan, he doesn't know anything about Dean. He saw us break up a couple weeks later, he was at a party my Grandparents threw for me. He and Finn and Colin cheered me up."

"They got you drunk." He said knowingly.

"That too." She said with a grin. "He took good care of me. We started dating, no strings attached, but it got serious."

"And now? He's bringing you home so it must be pretty serious." He asked still holding her hand.

"Now," she paused "Now he's getting bored, it won't be long before he cheats and I break up with him." She said matter of factly. He frowned.

"Well if you know he's going to do it, why drag it out?" He asked knowing she was probably more right than he wanted to admit.

"Don't bother defending him." She smiled. "I just want to enjoy it while it's here. We have fun together, but it's not serious."

"You've changed, but you haven't changed at all." He said as she blushed. "No, it's a good thing. You've grown up. It's a little sad; I miss the naïve creature at Chilton. You seemed so…Unjaded."

"Things change, for the better I think." They talked for hours. They laughed at each other's funny stories and shared each other seriousness when the time came for it. As they sat, she realized he never let go of her hand. They were close, figuratively and literally. It was like they had known each other their entire lives. You and I…we always clicked. She heard his voice in her head.

"Rory" Tristan looked down. Without even seeing it, she noticed he had let go of her hand. It felt cold.

"Hmm?" She said looking at him. He was looking at the glass door. Logan was walking towards them. He opened the glass door.

"What the hell are you guys doing up this early?" He asked still half asleep. "It's 5."

"I could ask the same for you." Tristan said with a smile.

"I couldn't sleep so I came out here, and I saw Tristan was up." Rory smiled at him.

"Military time. Couldn't beat it out of me if I tried." He shrugged.

"Come on Logan, Let's go back to bed." Rory said as she stood up. She winked at Tristan over her shoulder.

They were barbecuing in the backyard with Finn and Colin that night. Rory was sitting on Finn's lap and flirting shamelessly. Tristan sat back with a beer in his hand and laughed at the two of them. This was the Rory he had never seen, but loved all the same. It was who she should have always been. It was funny how they complemented each other like that. She helped him get his life together and he helped her loosen up. The 3 musketeers thought it was their doing, but he knew she would have never hung out with them if he hadn't come along first. She had admitted it herself.

"Rory love, Tell Tristan here he's burning the burgers." Finn said. Rory came over and sat on his lap.

"You're burning the burgers?" She said with a smile. He glanced at Logan.

"Logan, Are we burning the burgers?" He said with a smirk. Logan glanced over at Rory on Tristan's lap. He felt a pang of jealousy, but he knew that was unfair. They weren't going to last long and he just didn't want her to be with someone else, especially Tristan. He saw them talking last night, he knew they were going to end up together. The way they looked at each other, it was undeniable.

"I don't think so. Finn are we burning the burgers?" Logan said with a smirk.

"Damn Yankees." He said as he grabbed the tongs out of Tristan's hands. As Rory got up to sit on Logan's lap, Tristan joined Finn at the grill.

"So. How long have you been in love with our Reporter Girl?" Finn said discreetly.

"Going on four years now." He knew it was obvious, and he didn't care anymore.

"She's perfect. Beautiful, smart, legs that most guys would kill to…Well, she's perfect." Finn smiled. "Most guys would go nuts to have a girl like her."

"So why doesn't Logan?" He asked rhetorically.

"Don't worry mate. She'll be on the market soon enough. In fact, if you asked me, I would say that your being here has sped up the said break up. She's going to be coming to you for comfort. Can't say I wouldn't kill to see that girl on the rebound." He smiled and winked at Tristan as he flipped the burgers.

Logan kissed Rory as she came over to sit by him.

"I see I'm last on your lists of laps to sit on," he said curtly.

"Oh but baby, I always save the best for last. It makes the other boys feel important." She said as she kissed him again. She followed him into the living room.

"Rory, what are we doing here?" he asked in all seriousness. "I know you were lying to me about Tristan." She flushed as she got angry.

"We didn't do anything, Logan. Besides, you think I don't know about all the girls you've been with the past couple of weeks?"

"I haven't been with girls, I've been with a girl, you!"

"Oh please, she called your cell phone Logan, and I answered it." He looked shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked. "Why did you look the other way?"

"Because I don't care. That's the main problem with this relationship Logan. I don't care, and you don't care!" she wanted to bring Tristan into this but she didn't.

"Then I guess we are just wasting our time." He said standing up and walking into the backyard.

"I guess we are." She went to grab her stuff. She started throwing her clothes into her bags when Tristan walked in the room.

"The food is…done." He said as he trailed off.

"Yeah well, so are me and Logan." She said as she stuffed her clothes into her bag.

"Hey. Are you ok?" he said as he walked closer to her. She leaned into him.

"Yeah, Just help me get out of here?"

"If you're leaving, I'm coming with you. I don't want to stay here and wait for Logan to kill me in my sleep." She smiled. "The question is, Where are we going?"


	3. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"Which bed do you want?" he asked as he flung their stuff on the floor. She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. With a smile she looked up at him.

"Yours." He laughed at her brazen attitude.

"Ha." He scoffed. "If you think I'm sleeping with you tonight, you're crazier than I thought."

"And why not?" She said with a pout.

"If we were to sleep together, it would just be in retaliation of Logan's actions. That's not the right reason at all. I don't like feeling used." He said with a smile.

"Oh really?" She said as he moved against her. He had her against the wall.

"Besides, we haven't even kissed yet." She smiled as he licked his lips.

"Touché." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him in for a kiss. It started off soft and playful, but she quickly found herself lost in it. Her head was spinning as his tongue explored her lips and mouth. She returned the favor and she felt him moan. When breathing was necessary, he broke the kiss. He watched as she slowly opened her eyes. They were cloudy with desire.

"And you don't want to sleep with me," she said with a grin. She looked flushed as she put a hand to her chest.

"I've been waiting 4 years for that kiss." He said honestly. She nodded in agreement.

"I know what you mean." He leaned his forehead against hers. If one kiss does that, I can't even begin to think about how mind-blowing sex would be. She felt her heart jump as he leaned in again, this time kissing her neck. He found the spot behind her ear immediately and she moaned. His touch was magic. He knew exactly what to do and it was amazing.

"Tristan," she said in a deep sultry voice. He knew that voice would be the death of him. He was hard as he pressed her harder against the wall.

"Mary," he said mocking her tone. She pushed him off of her and against the bed as she said,

"My turn." He sat down on the bed, out of momentum. She crawled onto his lap and straddled him. She remembered how he used to stare at her ears in class. She nibbled and sucked on his earlobe. She heard him groan and she smiled wickedly.

"Mary," he whispered, this time in a hoarse voice. She knew exactly what to do to drive him crazy. He knew he was losing a battle.

"Tristan, what are you thinking about," she said as she kissed him again.

"Filthy things." He said as she giggled.

"Those things could be a reality. All you have to do is say the word." She stopped kissing him to look him in the eye. She took his hands in hers and entwined their fingers.

"I love you." She said in complete honesty. In her eyes, he saw every emotion he was feeling reflected back at him. He had been waiting 4 years to hear her say that, and that was enough for him.

"I love you too." He said. "I always have." She looked at him and smiled.

"Prove it." She said with a glint of mischief in her eye. He raised an eyebrow at her. "You have 4 years of catching up to do. Starting…now." She said looking at the clock to emphasize her point.

"You have no idea what you are getting into." He said honestly.

"Try me." She said fearlessly. He sat back and thought about it.

"Ok, if you insist." He said as if it was against his will. He stood up and stripped. When he was completely naked, he climbed on top of her.

"The first thing I loved about you was your eyes. They turn brighter when you are playful and they get darker when you are upset or concerned." He kissed each one of her eyelids. She lay there listening intently while he went on describing everything that he loved about her features and then kissing them. He moved down her neck to her collarbone. He slowly removed her shirt as he talked about her skin.

"Porcelain, soft, silky" he said in between the kisses he was trailing down her stomach. He talked about her hands and took the time to kiss each and every one of her fingertips. He removed her jeans and started talking about her legs.

"And your legs, god how I love your legs." He started at her toes and kissed his way up to her inner thighs. She pouted when he stopped. She looked at him; he was just staring at her. Her entire body was alert and alive. She could feel every nerve in her body buzzing in anticipation. Taking in the mental picture, he couldn't help but whisper in her ear.

"God you're so beautiful," he said as he brushed his thumb over her chest. He kissed her hair and went back to his ministrations. She moaned as he teased and sucked on her nipples. Without missing a beat he slid a finger into her. She was overwhelmed by the action, unaware on where to focus her pleasure. He kept his tongue on her chest as he inserted another finger into her. She felt herself begin to climb and she closed her eyes, letting herself enjoy the ride. When she stopped shaking, he went down on her, giving her no time to catch her breath.

"Tristan" she moaned, half out of exhausted disbelief. She started climbing again, this time much slower than she wanted. She bucked for friction, but he put a hand on her stomach to keep her in place.

"Tristan, please." She was going crazy. She was almost there when he stopped. She opened her eyes, as she looked at him disappointedly.

"It broke my heart to leave you, but it was worth it. I promise, it will never happen again." He whispered as he slid into her. She quickly found his rhythm. As she tightened around him, he began to shake. As he fell on top of her, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed the top of his head. He was exhausted as he rolled over bringing her head to his chest. She tangled her legs around his and he held her like that all night long.

Rory woke up to the steady movement of Tristan's chest moving. She could hear his heart beating and she didn't want to move. Everything was perfect.

"Hey you." He said as she started to stir. She looked up at him with sleepy eyes.

"Hey." She kissed him "Last night was…" she said as she kissed his neck.

"It's ok Rory. Not even Oxford has a word for last night." She giggled. He felt like he was flying, but he paused as her eyes suddenly got dark. "Hey. What's wrong?" He asked as he put his finger under her chin to look into her eyes better.

"When do you go back?" she asked with tears in her eyes. He felt his body drag and he hit the floor again.

"Oh, baby, not until Saturday. That gives us a week ok?" He hadn't even thought about it. She nodded her head slowly. "But you know, Yale is looking a whole lot more appealing." He said thoughtfully.

"No Tristan." She shook her head. "You love North Carolina, you only have a year left. Besides, summer vacation is just a couple months away. We can make it until then." She kissed him.

"I would change it in a heartbeat, for you."

"But what kind of girlfriend would I be to ask that of you. A terrible one. Let's not talk about it anymore. We've got a week together." She put her head back on his chest and he kissed her hair.

"I love you." He said. "And we're gonna make it work. No matter what."

"I know. I love you too." She couldn't help but smile as she thought about the offer. She would never allow him to change his life for her. But the fact that he offered was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for her.

"You want some breakfast, coffee maybe?" He asked.

"Do you even need to ask? A Danish too" She added quickly. "While you do that, I'm going to hop in the shower." She said as she rose from his chest. He pulled her back to kiss her. She smiled and walked into the bathroom. He had the strongest urge to follow her into the shower, but he knew that she would need coffee eventually. He picked up the phone and dialed room service.

As Rory emerged from the shower, Tristan was sitting in bed, reading the paper. She loved to see him in his glasses; it was so cute.

"Anything worth reading?" She asked as she grabbed her Danish and cup of coffee off the cart.

"Depends. How interested are you in the sports section?" She wrinkled her nose and he laughed. "That's what I thought. Here." He said throwing her the rest of the paper.

"Thank you." She said triumphantly. Just then her cell phone rang. She looked at the ID and found it was her mother. She opened it and said, "Hey."

"Long lost daughter! Where have you been all my life?" Rory giggled and Tristan looked up at her.

"Actually, a lot has been happening in the last 48 hours." Tristan figured now would be a good time to take his shower, give her some privacy. He got up and motioned to the bathroom. Rory nodded as her mother went on.

"Ooo Juicy details. Please!"

"Well, Logan and I broke up." She waited through the pause.

"You did?"

"Yep. And now, I'm kind of dating his cousin." She smiled as if bracing herself for the worst.

"What! What the hell happened there?"

"Do you remember Tristan DuGray…from Chilton?"

"The hot evil one? NO! Seriously? You are dating Bibleboy?"

"Yes,"

"Is he still really hot and rich?"

"More so."

"Wow. So, what, you just saw each other from across the room and what happened?"

"We stayed up all night talking, I mean like I was up at 6 AM and it wasn't because I woke up that early. And then it just kind of all fell into place. I mean, Logan and I were going to break up soon anyway. But mom, it's pretty serious already."

"How serious could it be, you just re-met the man 48 hours ago?"

"I love him. I think, I mean…I could see this working out, in the long run." She heard her mother gasp. There was silence on the other end. "I know it seems sudden, and I can't even believe it myself. But when you know,"

"You just know." Lorelei completed her sentence. "Just, be careful, I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'm thinking of bringing him home sometime this week. Is that ok?"

"Hell yes you are. I need to meet this man who has stolen my daughter's heart. Wait…If you aren't at Logan's, where are you?"

"Tristan put me up in a hotel last night, his apology for stealing me away from my lodging."

"You were in a hotel with a strange boy last night? I don't want to know any more details."

"Ok." Rory was slightly uncomfortable with what this sounded like to outside people. Were they moving too fast?

"Well you sound happy, that's good enough for me I guess. When are you coming home?"

"Tonight, do you think you could get Tristan a room at the inn?"

"Yeah, and if not, I'm sure Luke wouldn't mind if he stayed at the Diner."

"Thanks mom, for everything. You're the best."

"I try. I'll see you tonight then."

"Bye." Rory closed the phone and lay down on the bed. What did I get myself into? She thought as Tristan came out of the bathroom with a towel draped around his waist. Oh yeah, she smiled to herself.

"What are you smiling at?" Tristan asked as he started digging through his suitcase.

"You're meeting my mom and Luke tonight." He froze and turned around.

"Oh really? That's good, I guess." She smiled and walked up behind him.

"Don't be nervous. They'll love you. I know it."

"Did your mom remember me at all?" She giggled.

"Yeah…She remembered you were evil, and she wanted to know if you were still hot and rich." He raised an eyebrow.

"And you said?"

"More so. Oh, and she might call you Bibleboy, it's a play off of the whole nickname thing. She was very proud of herself for thinking of it so just smile and play along." He winced. This was going to be harder than he thought it was. "I got you a room at my mom's inn, that way you don't have to drive back."

"Are you going to be staying in Stars Hallow?" He asked.

"Yeah, there really is no reason for me to stay in Hartford, except for you, but I figured you wanted to get on my mother's good side." She winked. "But don't worry, I'll drive up to spend my days with you." She kissed him.

"I must really love you." He said as he kissed her back. He knew that winning over the mother was the hardest part. He didn't have a head start either. He stole her away from her other boyfriend and then spent the night with her in a hotel room. It was times like this he was thankful for all those lessons in military and finishing school.


	4. Meeting the 'Rents

Disclaimer: I own nothing but want everything

On the drive over, Tristan was nervous. She could see it and she tried the best she could to console him.

"Tristan, calm down. You are making me nervous." He smiled.

"I'm sorry, it's just that…I've never done this before." She put her hand on his knee and smiled.

"Just be yourself. I promise! They'll love you. If only because I do." He smiled at her attempts to comfort him. "Ok, pull in here." Her face lit up. She loved this place, that much was evident. She jumped out of the car and went running to her mother who was on the porch. "Mom!"

"Hey Kiddo!" They hugged for awhile and jumped up and down. Tristan smiled as he watched the two of them. She was really lucky to have a family she liked.

"Hey, I'm Luke." Said the man to their right. This was the infamous Luke. He looked tough, but in a good way.

"Hi. Tristan DuGray. It's nice to meet you." Lorelei looked over and saw Tristan and immediately let go of Rory.

"Bibleboy!" She shouted from the porch. "Let me have a look at you." She got close to him and glanced sideways at him, "Are you in love with my daughter?"

"Yes ma'am, I most certainly am." He said honestly.

"Agh, Don't call me ma'am."

"Sorry, North Carolina habit. It's hard to break." He smiled

"Just…don't break her heart." She said her confidence faltering a little.

"I don't think it's possible. I couldn't live with myself."

"Good answer." She patted him on the back. His intentions were most certainly noble.

"So, did you pass the test?" Rory asked as she grabbed his arm.

"I think so." He said, much more comfortable now. They walked into the house.

"I knew you would." She turned around. "What's for supper?"

"Luke's or Al's." Lorelei replied.

"Better make it Luke's, I don't think Tristan could handle Al's quite yet." He looked at her funny and said,

"Yeah, I'm going to take her word for it." Lorelei laughed.

"Burgers and fries ok with everyone?" Luke asked.

"And Shakes." Rory said with a smile.

"Ooo, yeah, better throw in some pie too."

"Yeah, Pie is good." Rory said with a smile.

"Tristan, you wanna come with me? I may need an extra hand with all this food." Luke asked.

"Sure." He said

"He doesn't bite," Rory said as she kissed him on the cheek. "Have fun." Tristan smiled as he followed Luke out the door.

"Don't worry. I don't mean to scare you or anything. I just thought you being the only male in the house might be dangerous. Plus, I really do need a hand with all the food." Tristan laughed.

"I don't know how you do it. Rory tells me you keep the Gilmore girls fed?"

"Yeah. It got a little easier when Lorelei and I got married. Plus Rory is off at Yale."

"She misses you guys a lot." He stated

"Lorelei and her are really close."

"Yeah, but I mean, she talks about you like you're her hero. She's really lucky to have you guys."

"Well, we miss her too. She's a great kid." Luke said as Tristan nodded in agreement.

"Ok so first of all, How lucky are you?" She said as she watched him leave through the back door.

"I'm really lucky."

"He's gorgeous, sweet, well-mannered, and crazy about you." Rory smiled.

"Yeah well, the feeling's mutual."

"Why men like that are still in the market, I'll never know."

"It's amazing. It's like fate pushed us together exactly when we were ready for each other. We weren't ready for each other, we both grew up, got our stuff together, and bam. There he is." Lorelei smiled.

"Love is funny like that. I'm happy for you babe." She said as she hugged her. "So what do you think Luke is doing?"

"He doesn't have a Bop-It in the truck does he?"

After they ate and hung out for awhile, Rory took Tristan to the Dragonfly. Lorelei was still sitting on the couch with Luke.

"They're good together." She said.

"They seem to be." Luke said

"I can't believe it, she's so grown up. I mean, she basically told me she wanted to marry him." She paused. "I'm old!" she realized.

"You are not old." Luke said reassuring her.

"I want her to be happy. She looks happy right?" She looked at him

"Yes, she looks very happy." He smiled and kissed her.

"Here's your room." She said as she opened the door.

"Wow. This is awesome." He said truly impressed.

"Mom decorated. Sookie makes the best food in the entire world. Not even kidding. She's a 5 star chef. So tomorrow I'm coming by for breakfast." She said.

"I wish you were staying with me." He said honestly.

"I know, me too. I seriously owe you for last night." She said with a wicked smile as she went for his neck.

"Oh, don't torture me now. That's just cruel." He said with a frown.

"Some guys like it, DuGray." She stated as she leaned in close but didn't kiss him.

"You're going to be the death of me," he said as he caught his breath.

"But what a way to go," she winked as she walked out the door.


	5. Second Chances

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Tristan took a shower and watched some TV. It was the first time he and Rory had been really been apart since they had met each other again. He was going insane. This is what it's going to be like in North Carolina for a month. He groaned and threw a pillow over his head. Just then his cell phone rang. He looked at the ID and smiled.

"Hello." He said with a grin he couldn't contain.

"So I'm in the bathtub, all alone." She said

"Yeah?" He said immediately hard.

"Mmhm, Mom and Luke went out for the night."

"Is the water hot?" he asked as he got more comfortable on the bed.

"Steaming." She said with a smile. "It's making me all hot and bothered."

"What are you doing in the bathtub?" He wanted to touch her.

"Well, I'm thinking of you." She said teasingly.

"Yeah?"

"Mmhm," she said slowly, as if moaning.

"Do you know what I would do if I were there?" he asked, wanting to make her crazy as well.

"Describe it to me." She said in a voice that only emphasized her need for him. As he went into detail, she began to follow his instructions. He saw her hand slip under the water and her eyes close.

Tristan jolted awake. He hit the snooze button and groaned into his pillow. Yep, she was going to be the death of him.

Rory came knocking on his door 45 minutes later.

"Hey," he said as kissed her.

"Hey yourself. Come on breakfast is waiting downstairs!" She grabbed his hand and drug him to the door. Sookie had a huge stack of pancakes waiting for them.

"Rory!" she said as she hugged her tightly.

"Hey Sookie!" she replied happily. "Sookie, this is Tristan. Tristan, Sookie." He smiled and shook her hand.

"Come here, the foods all ready for you." Lorelei walked in with a steaming mug of coffee as they sat down and started eating.

"Oh my God," Tristan said in surprise. "You weren't kidding. Sookie these are amazing!"

"I know," she said with a smile. Lorelei leaned over her daughter's shoulder and whispered in her ear.

"Does he make those noises for you?" Rory slapped her mother and kept eating.

"So, what are we doing today?" Rory asked as she quickly changed the subject.

"I don't know. What sounds good?" He asked, mouth full of pancakes.

"Well, I could give you a tour of the town. We could go to Hartford. Whatever."

"I'm assuming the tour takes about 15 minutes on foot?" He said teasingly.

"Actually, we timed it at 7." She smiled back.

"That sounds like fun." Lorelei choked on her coffee.

"Problems?" Rory asked as she looked up.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" She looked white as a sheet. "Now" Rory and Tristan looked at each other and she got up.

"Ok, You're scaring me." Rory asked with fear in her eyes.

"Well, I wasn't going to tell you this, but I have a feeling you are going to find out sooner or later. And especially now that Tristan's here with you." Lorelei took a deep breath. "Dean and Lindsey, they moved back to town."

"Ok. And?"

"What. That's it?" She asked.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it? It's not like we are going to go over and get caught up on old times. If they see each other, they see each other."

"Oh my God."

"What?"

"You want to flaunt! You want Dean to see Tristan and get incredibly uncomfortable!"

"No. I just want to be able to show my boyfriend around my hometown without people freaking out about anything and everything that could happen."

"Ok, that's fair. But I want you to know that I warned you."

"Ok." Rory said as she turned around and rolled her eyes.

"Everything ok?" Tristan asked suspiciously as they came back into the room.

"Never better. Come on." Rory said smiling and taking his hand.

"So what was that really about?" Tristan asked now that they were alone.

"Nothing, just my crazy mother." Rory smiled.

"You would tell me right? If something was up?" Tristan looked at her and she stopped to look directly in his eyes.

"Of course I would." She put her hand in his. He smiled and kept walking.

"So where are we headed?" He asked wanting to know exactly what was going on.

"Well I thought I would show you my first home. It's my favorite place in the town."

"Sounds good to me." They walked down to the Independence Inn. She took him in the back and pulled out her keys.

"What are you doing?" He asked her.

"This is it." She said smiling. He looked at the shed and he looked at her.

"You're shitting me." She laughed at his face.

"No I'm not shitting you. Come on," she pulled open the door. Tristan looked around at the one room shed. This was definitely once a house. His own private bathroom was bigger than this entire place.

"This was the bedroom, and this was the bathroom. Mom put a curtain around it so it looked like a separate room. And this was the kitchen, we had a table here." She motioned to the area to her right.

"Wow. You really do love this place don't you?" He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yeah. It's amazing. My mom, she never let on that anything was wrong. To her, this was the best place in the entire world. And I'm sure after living with my grandparents it was." Tristan nodded in agreement. "But she had to be so scared. I think about it a lot, how much she must have gone through and never told me. How strong she was."

"If anyone could do it, it would be Lorelei."

"Yeah." Rory smiled.

"Come on, I want to see the entire town." Tristan said as he kissed the top of her head. They walked around for awhile longer. "Hey Rory?"

"Yeah?" she said as she turned around to face him.

"Remember that night I left? When I told you I'd kiss you and you had said that you wanted me to, even if Dean was watching."

"Yeah. Why?" He leaned in and gave her the best kiss she had ever had. While her head was still spinning, he whispered in her ear.

"He saw that one." She looked up at him and giggled. She turned around and glanced to Dean, who was standing on the corner looking really confused. "Should we say hi?" He asked, holding her hand a little tighter.

"What do you think?" She asked him, knowing what the answer would be.

"I think it's only polite." She rolled her eyes. They strolled up to him holding hands.

"Hey Dean." Rory said as if it were nothing.

"Hi Rory."

"How are you? I heard you moved back to town."

"Yeah, you don't realize how much you miss it until you leave."

"Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Oh, God where are my manners. Dean, you remember Tristan, we went to Chilton together."

"Nice to see you again." Tristan offered his hand. Dean took it reluctantly.

"Yeah, you too. So have you two kept in touch this whole time?"

"Yeah, we have." Tristan said before Rory could say anything.

"Well I should be going, but it was nice seeing you again." Dean said as he walked away. As soon as he was out of hearing range, Rory slapped him.

"You are terrible." She said with a giggle.

"Oh, like he didn't have that coming? I do feel bad for him though."

"Yeah, he'll never have what we have." She said as she looked at him walking away.


	6. Movie Night

Disclaimer: I own nothing

"You lie!" Lorelei said with huge eyes.

"No, I'm not lying." Tristan said with a look of uncertainty in his eyes.

"Ok. We are pulling out all the stops. This calls for extreme measures. What is it with our men and movie nights?"

"I couldn't tell you." Rory said without a tone in her voice.

"Hard Bodies it is then." Tristan said with a laugh.

"Rory, you get candy and junk food. Pizza, Chinese, and all the regular staples." She saluted and grabbed the phone.

"You, Bibleboy, sit on this couch and tell me how you got to the age of 21 without seeing Hard Bodies!" He laughed.

"Rory showed me the old Inn today." Lorelei's face got sentimental, as if she could see the memories flashing before her eyes. "As I was standing there, watching her give me the tour of this tiny room, that was smaller than my bathroom, I thought about how lucky she was. The whole 'anything's better than there' philosophy. I get it. I lived that for 17 years, but I still can't imagine doing what you did."

"Oh, I know you do kid." Lorelei smiled encouragingly. "But you get out, and you learn from watching their mistakes, and you promise yourself you will never let your own kids ever feel that way. Someday, when you have a kid, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about."

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked with a smile as she entered the room with a huge amount of food.

"We were just getting acquainted." Lorelei said. "Where's the rest of the food?"

"There's more?" Tristan looked at them through wide eyes. They burst out laughing.

"Oh no." Lorelei looked over her shoulder. Rory had fallen asleep on Tristan's chest.

"It's ok. I'll move her to her room in a minute. She just fell asleep and I don't wanna wake her."

"Ok. You're more than welcome to stay here tonight if you don't want to drive." Lorelei said. "I can get you some sheets for the couch."

"No it's fine. Thanks though." He said moving Rory into a better position to hold her. He picked her up and carried her into her room. As he was tucking her in, she mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like suck up. He smirked at her ability to mock him while half conscious. He kissed her forehead.

"Goodnight Mary." He said in a warning tone.

"Night." She said with her eyes still closed.

Time flew by and soon it was time for Tristan to head back to North Carolina. She drove him to the airport. He held her hand but they remained silent the entire trip, both knowing that this was going to be the hardest part of their relationship. North Carolina was a long ways away, she thought. As he checked his bags, she turned and looked around. She heard him cough and she turned back around. She met his eyes with concern. When she looked down, there was a present in his hands.

"Don't open it til you get home." He said with a wink. She threw her arms around him and tried not to cry.

"I can't believe you're leaving already." She buried her head in his neck.

"I know, but I'll be back in 6 weeks. Until then we can talk on the phone and email and IM. It'll go by fast, I promise." When she heard them call his flight, she kissed him like she would never kiss him again.

"Just a little incentive to come back fast." She smiled.

"You have no idea how much I hope your right." He hugged her a little tighter and he kissed her again. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said as she let him go. He turned and walked away. He couldn't turn around and look at her. He knew that he would never leave. But he walked slowly as if each step was breaking his heart. As soon as he was out of sight, Rory opened the box he had given her. There was a note on top.

Dear Mary,

I know that if I turned around right now, I would see you opening this.

She smiled and kept reading.

Just know that I love you more than I ever thought possible. I've loved you since the very first day I looked into your eyes. I promise that I'll never leave you. You will always be with me, every time I see a cup of coffee or a Jane Austen novel, I'll forever think of you. With all of my heart, I wish I was able to stay with you right now. Be strong, and know that you're always on my mind. This kept me occupied in military school, I hope it helps you pass the time.

Forever yours,

Tristan

She wiped the tears out of her eyes and continued opening the box. It was a book. She turned it over and read the title and burst into tears again. Romeo and Juliet. From the looks of it, he had read this as much as The Great Gatsby. She opened it randomly to a page in the middle. He had written notes in the margins about her. She flipped to the end, where she knew they would have kissed had he stuck around long enough. As she read, she smiled at the notes. It was like having a piece of him with her. What he said was true. He had loved her from the very beginning. The guilt she had was overwhelming, she had said she hated him in front of Dean. It must have broken his heart. She was the reason he acted out. Hundreds of thoughts raced through her head. She needed to write him a letter.

Tristan had unpacked and gotten situated again. He was miserable without her. He needed to see her, to hear her voice, to touch her. It had only been a couple days but he was already planning his trip back. 6 weeks of this, he thought, is impossible. Just then his mail slot opened and the mail came pouring in. He went over and picked it up off the floor. Bills, junk mail, and bingo…a letter from Rory. He quickly tore it open.

Dear Tristan,

You were right, I opened the present as soon as you rounded the corner.

He smirked knowingly and kept reading.

It brought me to tears. I can't believe you have loved me this long. As I read, I felt guilty. I know I treated you poorly, and I know that your actions back at Chilton were partly my fault. I'm sorry if I ever did anything to hurt you. I love you more every day and I eagerly wait your return.

With all my love,

Your Mary

Tristan set the letter on the table after rereading it. He didn't want her to feel guilty. He wanted to thank her for everything she had done. Another letter was needed.

Dear Mary,

I NEVER want you to feel guilty about anything that happened in my past. Getting sent to Military school was completely separated from anything that you did. I deserved everything I got. And it was also the best thing that ever happened to me. I couldn't be the person I am today if I hadn't gone. I didn't deserve you back then. I had to grow up before we could have ever been together. I don't think you realize how much your letter means to me. (The fact that you signed it Your Mary completely turns me on by the way.) I miss you already and I don't know how I'm going to survive these next few weeks.

Forever yours,

Tristan.

Rory came into the apartment and grabbed her mail off the table. She was sure that he had written her back.

"Yes!" She said to herself as she tore the envelope open. She read the letter and laughed. Typical Tristan. She could practically see him smirking as she read it. Time to reply, she thought.

Dear Tristan,

Wipe that smirk off of your face. I can sign my letters anyway I please. How are your classes? Everything here is the same. Paris says hello. I miss you. I can't wait until summer vacation when I can see you everyday if I want.

Loving you more every day,

Your Mary

She sealed it up and wrote his address on the front. She opened her desk drawer to reveal she was out of stamps. Damn she thought. She picked up her coat and drove down to the post office. On her way back, she stopped at a coffee shop. As she sat reading a magazine, she heard a familiar voice. She looked up and saw Logan with a girl draped on his arm. She was gorgeous and obviously a model in some other life. She kept her head down and Logan glanced over. He froze as he saw her there. She looked great, coffee on the table and of course reading. Such a typical Ace picture. Rory turned a page as the girl caught Logan staring.

"Logan, what did you want to order?" She said impatiently.

"Whatever you're having." He said with a smile. He was used to faking his way through life. Just then her cell phone rang. She opened it and got a huge grin on her face as she answered.

"Hey! How did it go?" Logan knew she was talking to Tristan. His gut dropped. He wanted to love her, it was never meant to be between them, but she was so perfect. Even if he knew it would never work out, he wanted it to.

"You ok hon?" He nodded.

"Yeah, Let's go."

Rory smiled at Logan as he left the café. She wanted to let him know that he meant something to her. He smiled back as he held the door open for his date.


	7. A Dream come true

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Tristan looked out his window of his apartment. It was down pouring. It seemed to fit his mood, gloomy and depressed. He missed her, more than words could say. It was the weekend and he had no plans, which only added to his depression. He was pondering whether or not to watch a movie when his cell phone rang. He smiled as he checked the ID.

"Hey."

"Hey baby, How are you?"

"I'm better now that you called."

"Oh, bad day?"

"Something like that. I miss you." He said.

"I miss you too. I wish I could be there with you. I bet I could make you feel better." She said with a smile.

"Something tells me that you could." He laughed. "What are you up to?" Just then there was a knock on the door. "Hold that thought. There's someone at the door." He ran to the door and cursed their timing. He opened it to reveal a very wet Rory. She hung up her phone and kissed him. He was so taken aback, he didn't return the kiss at first. He pulled away long enough to ask, "What the Hell are you doing here!"

"I came to surprise you! My Monday classes were cancelled. I couldn't stay home that long alone." He held her against his body as if to make sure it was really her.

"I'm so glad you're here." He said honestly as he kissed her properly. He put his hand against the back of her neck and she leaned into his touch. "You're soaked." He finally realized. She laughed and took off her jacket. Her white tank was completely see-through and he raised his eyebrow. She wrapped her arms around him and took off his shirt. He smiled at her. "This is a booty call isn't it?"

"Hell yes." She said as she walked away from him and took off her shirt. Her bare back was enough to get him to follow her into his bedroom. He turned the corner to see the rest of her clothing in the hallway.

"Mary?" She wasn't in his bedroom and he heard the water turn on in the bathroom. He walked into the bathroom that was filling with steam. She kissed him and pulled him closer by his belt loop. She hopped in the shower and after stripping, he joined her. He pressed her against the cold tile and sent shivers down her spine. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he kissed her neck and collarbone. They made out for a little while and he pushed her back against the tile. "I love you," he whispered as he entered her. She gasped and he started to move slowly within her. As she started to moan out his name, he was going insane.

"Oh God," he closed his eyes as he went over the cliff. He was still shaking as he lifted her down off the wall. She opened her eyes and looked at him through a cloudy haze of pleasure. She stepped out of the shower and he turned off the water. He grabbed a huge towel and wrapped it around her. She walked into his bedroom and crawled under the sheets. The cool sheets against her hot flesh felt wonderful. She pulled the sheets up to her nose, they smelled exactly like him. She could stay here forever. He walked in with a towel slung around his waist.

"When was the last time you had a girl naked in your bed?" She asked with a giggle.

"Last night." He said with a serious face. She threw a pillow at him. "Hey!" He dodged the pillow but came after her. He had her hands above her head and pinned to the headboard before she realized it. She looked up at him.

"Military school teach you how to do that?"

"Yep." He grinned and kissed her. "Did I mention how glad I am that you're here?" He asked.

"Not recently." She smiled.

"Well I am." He let go of her wrists. He got a serious look on his face and she sat up.

"What's wrong?" she asked concerned. He smiled.

"Nothing." He said. "For the first time in my life, everything's perfect." He kissed her forehead and she snuggled into him.

He lay there next to Rory until he heard her fall asleep. He had scared her earlier when he realized that in his mind, this was forever. He had always known that if he ever got a second chance with her, he would fall head over heels. She was perfect; Finn had said so himself. But when he looked at her, he couldn't imagine ever being with anyone else. He saw a house full of kids and all those other things he never believed he wanted. He wanted commitment, and it scared the hell out of him and thrilled him all at the same time. He knew it would be crazy to transfer with a year left of school, but that didn't mean he didn't consider it. The thought of living with Rory and being able to see her everyday was incentive enough to transfer. She had been adamant about him staying where he was. There were so many questions that he needed answered, and she was the one to answer them.

When Rory woke up, she was alone. If that wasn't enough, Tristan had left a note saying he would 'Be back later.' She climbed out of bed and found all of her clothes. She changed and freshened up and he still wasn't back. She was beginning to get worried. Just as she was about to call his cell, he came in through the door. He was in sweats and soaked with sweat.

"Where were you?" She asked concerned.

"I went for a run. I left a note." He said pointing to the bedroom.

"I know, I found it. It was just a little vague that's all. How was your run?" She asked.

"It was good. I needed to clear my head. Process some things and figure some stuff out." He said not even thinking about how it sounded. He opened the refrigerator and stuck his head in the door.

"Well then, I'm glad you went." She said slightly offended. He stood up at the sound of her voice.

"Is everything ok?" he asked as he shut the fridge door.

"Yeah," she said. "Everything's perfect." She said as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Rory." He heard the bedroom door slam. "Fuck." He muttered to himself. He went and knocked on the door. "Rory, open up." He leaned his temple against the wood frame.

"Leave me alone Tristan." He opened the door anyway. She was sitting on the bed and she was crying. The sight alone made Tristan's stomach drop.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I said, but whatever it was, I'm so sorry." He looked at her and walked a little closer.

"This afternoon, everything was perfect. You were happy to see me, weren't you?" She looked at him confused. "You wanted me to come down here?"

"Nothing could have made me happier, nothing." He said honestly.

"Well then, why did I wake up, alone." She added with a searing quality that he didn't know she possessed. "To find that you have left me a note saying 'Be back later' and come in telling me that you needed to 'figure some stuff out.' You might as well say you're causing problems in my life." She started to cry again. He wanted to say that she had taken his words out of context, that he never said any of it. He also knew that he had said those words. He got squatted down so they were eye-level. He looked her square in the eye.

"Rory, I'm using your real name, I want to be very clear with you ok?" She nodded. "I love you, I love you more than I ever realized I could love someone. When I look at you, I see forever." He paused to let the words sink in. "And I don't know if you're aware, but I've never done this whole serious relationship thing before. I'm new at this and it scares the Hell out of me. But I want it all, and I want it all with you." She started crying again. "Oh, please don't cry." He said. He felt like she was glass and he was hitting her with a baseball bat, shattering her into a thousand pieces.

"No…It's a good crying this time." She choked out. "I didn't mean to get that worked up about it, I just started thinking maybe you regretted this whole situation. I mean, I wanted to come surprise you and it seemed like a good idea but you acted like it was bothering you that I was here."

"No, it was a good idea. The best idea. I think that we need to talk about this though. We need to sort out what we are doing here."

"What do you mean." She looked at him with untrusting eyes.

"I mean, we are going to have a long distance relationship. We've decided on that right?" He said.

"Yes, You aren't transferring in your last year, it's just stupid."

"Ok, so what about this summer?"

"What about it?"

"We both have jobs Rory. I'm going to be working down here and you are going to be writing up there." She hadn't thought about it, her job at the paper. It was one that she desperately needed and she couldn't quit.

"Do you need to be here to work?" She asked honestly. "I can write anywhere." She wanted to ask the vital question, if they got married, where would they live? Would they live here or there? She inwardly scolded herself for thinking so far ahead. That was too far in advance.

"Rory, you worked really hard to get that internship." He said in a defeated tone.

"Can I ask you a question?" She asked him slowly.

"Anything." He said as he sat up a little.

"Before you met me, were you planning on living here, you know, after college?"

"I wouldn't mind living here, but I guess I would have gone where my job took me. I love it here, but I don't know how much opportunity there is. Why?"

"I was just thinking about my dream. I've always wanted to live in New York and write for the Times. What are your dreams?"

"Being with you." He said with a grin as she rolled her eyes. "But now that I've got that one covered, I have no idea. I could find a job in New York. They put up new buildings everyday."

"Is this crazy?" She looked at him wearily. "Are we being completely irrational to think that this could work out in the long run?"

"Rory, I've loved you for 4 years, even when I didn't know if you felt the same way. I didn't even know if you remembered me. I think that gives us more of a shot at the long distance thing than most people."

"So what have we decided?" She asked him laughing as she fell back onto the bed.

"I've decided that I should keep my mouth shut." He said falling next to her. She rolled over on top of him.

"I bet I could get you to open it again." She said with a wink.

"My head hurts." He pointed to his temple to prove his point.

"Do you want me to kiss it and make it better?" He nodded with a pout. She kissed his forehead.

"It hurts here too." He said pointing to his cheek. She giggled and kissed his cheek. "And here." He said running his finger against his bottom lip. She kissed him. It was a long slow kiss. Tristan felt like his stomach was doing flip-flops. He smiled as she pulled away from him.

"I feel like I'm going to wake up any minute and find out this is all a dream." She said as she laid her head on his chest.

"This is better, it's a dream come true." He said.


	8. Friends and Family

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

That night, Tristan took Rory out to a local pub to meet his friends. As they walked in, Rory immediately caught sight of the loud table in the back full of people. Some were playing pool or darts, others just sitting around the table chatting.

"Hey!" She heard someone shout their way.

"Hey guys." Tristan said smiling. He was convinced he had the greatest group of friends in the world. These guys were his true family. "Everybody, this is Rory Gilmore. Rory, this is everybody." He said as they sat down.

"Nice to meet you," a man said as he grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"The pleasure's all mine." She smiled back.

"That would be Ty. He's the one you need to watch out for. I'm Noah." The man next to her said. "This is my girlfriend Laura," He gestured to the girl beside him.

"Hi Rory, I've heard so much about you!" She smiled and stuck out her hand. Noah continued.

"Those guys playing pool are Matt and Eric. They used to room with Tristan before he got his own place off campus." Rory glanced over to see Tristan hugging Matt. He glanced her way and they both smiled at each other.

"So tell us about yourself Rory." Ty said with a grin.

"Well, Tristan and I went to High School together. We drove each other crazy. He got sent off to Military school and I went to Yale. His cousin and I were actually dating, that's how we remet."

"Wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You were dating Logan." He said in all seriousness.

"Yeah," She smiled. "Actually, we were going to break up the weekend I met Tristan. He and I got to talking and now, here we are."

"It's funny how things like that work out." Laura said dreamily. "It's just like a romantic movie!" Rory laughed and soon they were talking like old friends. Tristan came over to check up on her and grab a beer.

"How are we doing?" He whispered in her ear.

"I'm having a blast." She said with a huge smile on her face. He looked at her then looked at his friends.

"What are you telling her?" He said in an accusing tone.

"Nothing." They all said with straight faces as Noah walked backwards slowly up to the bar. Tristan leaped over the chair in front of him and grabbed Noah by the arm.

"We might have divulged a few pieces of information." He said with an innocent look on his face. "The problem is, you don't know which ones." He laughed teasingly.

"Whatever they tell you, it's a lie." He pointed his finger at Rory as he let Noah go.

"Oh I hope not." She smiled wickedly. He kissed her as he walked by and continued his game of pool. As the night wore on, people slowly left in couples or by themselves. Soon it was just Rory, Tristan and Ty.

"Well, we should probably head back." Tristan said as he looked around. "I'm assuming they want to close this joint."

"Ok." Rory said as she stood up and stretched.

"Ty, you coming?" Tristan asked.

"No man, I think I'm going to wait around a little longer." He said with a sleepy smile. He had a few in him.

"Alright," Tristan laughed as Rory looked concerned. "It's ok," he whispered. "His brother owns the place." She nodded and they walked out into the warm night air.

"So I had a lot of fun tonight." Rory said as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Good, I'm glad." He smiled. "Those guys, they are my family. It's really cool having you meet them. It's like the best of both worlds." They walked awhile in silence. Rory looked up at him and smiled.

"So, do all your girlfriends meet 'the family'?" She said as she quoted with her hands.

"No, you're the first one." He said kind of quietly. "I haven't wanted them to know about any of the other girls. I knew they weren't going to last. You, however." He paused. "Well, I just hope that there won't be a need to introduce any other girls to them." She smiled.

"I hope so too." As they got back to his house, she was starting to get tired. She walked into the bedroom and threw on her pajamas. She crawled into bed and fell asleep. Tristan walked in and smiled. Now that was a sight he could get used to. He crawled in next to her and watched her as she slept. He was never a strongly religious person, but he said a prayer to whoever would be listening that his life would always have her in it.


	9. Goodbyes and Garden Parties

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rory woke up from the best sleep she had ever had. She was sleeping on her side and Tristan had pulled her in close, wrapped his arms around her, and held her all night. She could feel his breath against her neck. She could stay like this forever and never move. She needed him in her life, not just a voice on the phone or in a letter. She needed the smell of him, the way he smirked, and the feel of his arms around her. If she had learned anything from coming down here, it was that. Everything was perfect. She felt him stir and she giggled as he kissed the back of her neck.

"Mornin'." He mumbled as he snuggled in closer to her. She removed his arm from around her waist and turned to look at him. His eyes were closed and he looked so content.

"Afternoon." She said as she glanced at the clock. He opened his eyes to see the clock read 12:17.

"No wonder I feel rested." He stretched and yawned. "Do you need something?" He asked when he noticed she was staring at him. She smiled and shook her head.

"I was just…thinking." She shrugged.

"Well stop. It's bad for you. I thought we learned that lesson yesterday." He turned over and pushed his pillow back into place.

"You going back to sleep?" She asked.

"Yep." He said matter of factly.

"Well then, I'll be in the shower." She said as she threw the covers off.

"Is that a statement or an invitation?" He asked as she made her way to the bathroom.

"You're a smart guy, you can figure it out." She shouted back to him. Tristan groaned as he shook his head and got out of bed.

"The death of me, Mary. The death of me."

Tristan drove Rory to the airport in silence. This is getting to be a tradition, he thought. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what would make it any easier.

"I had a good time. I'm so glad you came down here." He smiled her way

"Me too." She looked his way and smiled half-heartedly. She looked like she was going to cry.

"Mary." He said, his heart breaking.

"Don't. I'll be fine." She said kissing him. "No Goodbyes. I'll see you in a couple weeks." With that she walked away. She didn't look back but she heard a faint goodbye behind her.

Tristan watched her as she walked farther away from him. "Goodbye." He muttered.

Rory came running into her apartment that she shared with Paris. She threw her book bag on the chair and went for the ringing phone.

"Hello!" She yelled, slightly out of breath.

"Rory?" Emily asked uncertain.

"Yeah, Grandma, it's me. Sorry. I was unlocking the door so I had to run inside before you hung up."

"Oh well, I'm calling to make sure that you are coming to the Garden party next week." Rory slapped her forehead. She had completely forgotten about it.

"Yeah Grandma, I'll be there."

"Excellent. Make sure you bring a date, we may have trouble filling chairs. I have to run. Bye!"

"Grandma I…" Rory hung up the phone. Great, not only did she have to go to her Grandma's party but she needed to find someone to drag with her. Just then she had a brilliant idea. She picked up her cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" She had missed the sound of his voice, she hadn't seen him since she broke up with Logan.

"Finn, it's Rory. I need a major favor."

"Of course love, anything."

"I need a date for my Grandma's Garden party next weekend."

"Did I say anything? I meant almost anything." He joked.

"Please! I promise it will only be an hour tops. Then you can escape to bigger and better things. I miss you Finn. I feel like I don't get to see you anymore."

"I miss you too darling. Fine." He said defeatedly. " But we don't tell Logan or Tristan. I don't want to mess up either friendship. After an hour, then I'm gone." She smiled

"Deal! Pick me up around 8?"

"Ok. We really should see each other outside of society parties though."

"You are absolutely right. I owe you Finn!" She said as she hung up the phone. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad party after all. Tristan was planning on coming up that next Monday and she was so excited, she hardly minded spending time at a party, especially if it was with Finn.

Finn knocked on her door at 8:05. He knew her too well. She smiled as she put on her last earring and walked to the door. She stopped in the mirror. She looked good if she did say so herself. She opened the door.

"Sweet Mary, mother of God." Finn said as his jaw dropped. She spun around. She was wearing a light blue sundress that hugged all of her curves perfectly and only brought out her eyes even more. Her hair was wrapped and she had silver jewelry.

"Hey Finn." She laughed at his reaction.

"You look amazing love. If it doesn't work out with Tristan, I'm next in line ok?" She laughed as she nodded.

"Thanks for doing this Finn. Really, it's above and beyond the call of duty."

"No worries. I'm happy to get to spend time with you again."

"I know, we should do it more often." He pulled up in front of her Grandparent's house and helped her out of the car. They didn't notice, but behind them a blonde man stepped out of a limo and followed them in.

As they made their way into the backyard, small white lights were hung up everywhere. It looked magically.

"Wow." Rory said as she stepped into the crowd. Finn brought back two glasses of champagne and Rory walked up to greet her Grandparents.

"Hi Grandpa, Grandma."

"You made it. How wonderful! Richard isn't it wonderful?" Emily said

"Yes it is." He said as he walked over to meet some business friends.

"It's a beautiful party Mrs. Gilmore." Finn said

"Why thank you." She looked over their shoulder. "Sorry, Rory, must run. Sheila!" Rory laughed.

"Would you like to dance Miss Gilmore?" Finn said as he stretched out his hand.

"I would love to," she said sticking her nose in the air. She took his hand and he led her to the floor. They were laughing and looked really cute together. She wrapped her arms around him and put her head on his shoulder. Logan looked up from his conversation with a business associate of his father's. She was making all the rounds with his friends, he thought bitterly. He didn't want to admit it, but he was hurt. Finn had told him that he had a date, but he didn't expect it to be her. She was supposed to be with Tristan. Soon he found himself walking over to them.

"Can I cut in?" He asked. Rory tensed at immediately hearing his voice.

"Logan. Let me explain." Finn tried to come up with a reason he was here.

"Finn. Don't." Logan said forcefully. "Just give me one dance." He looked at Rory and she nodded. Finn backed out and Logan took his place. Rory immediately backed up and started dancing much more formally.

"He was just doing me a favor. Don't get mad at him. He bailed me out." She said matter of factly

"Are you still seeing Tristan?" He asked, more out of necessity than wanting to know.

"Yeah." She smiled at his name. "I am."

"He's a good guy. One of the best, actually. You deserve someone who treats you right." He said. "He does treat you right, right?"

"He treats me like a princess." She said. "He's coming back, you know. On Monday." She hinted. "If you wanted to talk to him, you could." He laughed and spun her around.

"Ace I don't think that would be such a good idea." When she got back into his arms, she looked over his shoulder and saw Tristan standing farther away in a crowd. He looked pissed. Rory immediately let go of Logan. "Rory?" Logan was staring at her.

"Tristan." She said running towards him. "What are you doing here!" She was so happy to see him.

"I don't want to interrupt your dance, Ace." He spit out the name like a dirty word and walked away.

"Tristan, stop. You're being ridiculous. It was just a dance." He didn't turn around. "Tristan!" she kicked off her heels and Finn picked them up. She caught up with him and spun him around. "Look at me. Do you have no trust in me at all?" She asked. He looked down at the ground. "Do you think that I would cheat on you?" She asked him trying to make eye contact.

"Rory, look at it from my perspective. I show up a few days early to surprise you and I find you at a party with your Ex, looking gorgeous. And you're dancing and laughing like nothing had changed between the two of you. Don't you think that's just a little suspect?"

"I needed a date. Finn helped me out. Logan was here with his parents and he saw Finn and me. He wanted to make things right, and he did owe me an apology." Tristan gave her a look. "Do you know what we were talking about when you showed up? He said that you and I deserve each other, that you are one of the best guys he knows." Tristan glanced behind her where Finn and Logan were standing on the front step. Finn held up her heels in his hand. Tristan wanted to laugh at the picture, but he was still trying to figure things out.

"But if you are going to jump to conclusions, I don't want to have this conversation with you. I did the whole jealousy thing with Dean, I'm not doing it again with you." She turned to walk away.

"Mary," he grabbed her wrist. "Don't ever, ever, compare me to Bagboy." He said disgusted as he kissed her. It was full of passion, When he pulled away, her eyes were still closed.

"You think you can just kiss me and make it ok?" She asked as she opened her eyes.

"I think that I've got a whole summer to make it ok." She looked up at him like he was crazy.

"What do you mean? What about your internship?" He smiled.

"Turns out the company was bought out by someone from New York. They heard that I was from the area and they sent me back north. I'm going to be living in the city."

"Wait, so you and I are going to be living within an hour of each other?" She said as it all computed in her mind.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that." He couldn't contain his smile. "I talked to Paris and she gave me a file of your writings. I submitted them to the Times and they were more than eager to talk to you about an internship."

"What?" She was in shock. She couldn't even formulate more than a word.

"If you want to stay in Stamford, that's cool too. It's completely up to you, I just thought I would throw it out there." She started to smile.

"This is crazy. Two seconds ago I was trying to convince you from walking out the door, now you want us to live together?"

"Two seconds ago I thought that I had made a really big mistake. That's why I reacted the way I did. I'm sorry by the way." He said as he toyed with her hand.

"You're forgiven, but you better come up with a way to make it up to me." She winked.

"I can think of a few off the top of my head." He smirked and kissed her forehead. She went over to Finn and collected her shoes.

"Thanks buddy." She said smiling.

"Anytime love, anytime." He said with a wink. "Let me walk you to Tristan's car." Logan and Tristan looked at each other. This was awkward.

"You used to be so charming." Logan smiled. "What the Hell happened?" Tristan laughed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I'm sorry, but when it comes to her," he stopped, not sure exactly how to put what he felt into words.

"I get it man. It's ok." He walked past him, but turned around and pointed a finger at him. "Just don't let it happen again."


	10. Drama

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Tristan walked over to the car and saw Rory leaning against the passenger side door. She had tears in her eyes.

"Hey." He immediately wanted to comfort her, but didn't know if that's what she wanted. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine." She said as she wiped her eyes.

"Rory, If I did something wrong, I..."

"No. No, you didn't do anything. I just was thinking about what could have happened back there."

"What do you mean?" Tristan was confused. Just a few minutes ago she was fearless and threatening to leave him like he didn't mean anything. Now she was crying?

"What if I hadn't been able to stop you? What if you had walked away? I don't know what I would have done if." She paused as her eyes began to well up again. He walked towards her slowly. He had really screwed up back there.

"Oh, honey. I would never be able to walk away from you. Not for long anyway. If I had walked away, I would be back begging for your forgiveness within a matter of minutes. You have to believe I just had a knee-jerk reaction."

"I know, but I hate fighting with you. And now we have all of these new issues to deal with and the only thing I want is for you to hold me." She said sounding stressed.

"Well, why don't we head back to the Inn. We promise to deal with all of this stuff tomorrow, but tonight, we just relax."

"What did you have in mind?" she asked knowingly.

"I don't know, maybe a movie, we could sit in the jacuzzi, whatever you want. Tonight is about me making you happy."

"You don't have to make me happy. You just being here makes me happy." She smiled. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not going to milk this for all it's worth."

"You wouldn't be a Gilmore if you didn't." He smiled and leaned her against the car. She kissed him and got into the car. He started to laugh as she began listing all of the things he would have to do tonight if he wanted to make it up to her.

OOOOOO

As Rory walked into the house to get some things, Lorelei had a devilish look on her face.

"What?" Rory said as she started to pack a suitcase.

"Bibleboy's staying at the Inn and you are staying with him." Rory nodded her head.

"Dirty." She said with a wicked grin.

"Mom, I'm really not in the mood." Rory snapped at her.

"Ok honey, tell mommy what happened." She sat down at the table and started to tell Lorelei everything that had happened.

"Oh kid, you're gonna be fine. Tristan adores you, if you don't decide to leave the paper he'll understand. But you should try for the Times, just for the experience, you know?"

"I know. It's just all happened so fast. He just assumed that I would drop everything and move to the city."

"Well, wouldn't you?" Lorelei stated the obvious.

"Well, yeah, but I don't want him to think that I'm that kind of girl. I don't want to change my entire life just because it's convenient for him."

"Honey, he's doing that for you. You don't have to change anything. Don't you see? He's willing to change his entire world for you."

"I know! I don't want him to be that kind of person either. I just, ah!" She put her head in her hands. "There has got to be something in between."

"Well this sounds about as close to perfect as you are going to get. You get your dream job and Tristan gets to keep his. I'm not seeing the problem here babe."

"I didn't get to make a list." Her voice began to wobble. "I want this. I do. I want it more than anything, but it's just so…"

"Scary?" Lorelei stated more than asked.

"I'm freaking out here aren't I?" Lorelei nodded and grabbed her for a hug.

"You're going to be fine. Everything's going to work out. I promise. If it makes you feel better you can make a list." She said patting her head. "Now go finish packing, you've got a boy waiting for you. I'll help you." With that, they walked into Rory's room to continue packing.

OOOOOO

Tristan was watching TV when Rory walked into the room.

"Hey."

"Sorry it took so long. I had a minor freak out with my mother." She set her stuff down and began taking off her jacket.

"Everything ok?" He got a worried look on his face as he stood up to meet her.

"Yeah, it just all kind of sunk in once I started telling my mom about tonight."

"Rory, how are you feeling about this?" She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked him in the eye.

"Well, at first I was in shock, then I freaked out when I talked to my mom about it. I mean, I've never lived with a guy before ever, and even then it all just happened so fast. One minute we were fighting and the next we were planning a life together. I was just an emotional wreck. So after talking to my mom about the whole situation, I decided that I want this. You know how much I love you, and I can hardly stand to be away from you for a couple of weeks at a time. I don't know how I would last an entire summer. It's just all so… life changing."

"Hey, you don't have anything to be sorry for. If I remember right, I was also freaking out tonight. It's big, and it's scary. But I don't know any other options that work for both of us."

"I know that. Please, let's not talk about this anymore. I want to just ignore the world for awhile. I wanna take a bubble bath." He smiled and kissed the top of her head.

"That I can arrange." He walked into the bathroom and began filling the large tub with warm water. Suddenly he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" she asked sticking her head around the doorframe.

"Nothing," He said. Rory walked in the room with a silk robe on. She slipped the robe off in front of him revealing her bare back. He began to get undressed and followed her into the tub, which was admittedly quite relaxing. "I can't remember the last time I took a bubble bath." He said. "I think I was 7." She laughed

"Well you're going to have to start taking more of them." She said as she sunk lower beneath the water. Her feet grazed his abdomen. He quickly reached for them and began massaging one. Rory closed her eyes and moaned. "Oh God, you are so good at that." Tristan smirked.

"If I knew it was that easy I would have done this a long time ago."

"When we get out of this tub, I'm getting a full body rub down."

"If you keep making those noises, every inch." He promised.

"Do you have any weaknesses?" She asked, never opening her eyes.

"Sometimes it seems like that's all I have." He said honestly. She opened her eyes instantly, they were dark and concerned.

"Like what?" she asked in disbelief.

"My parents. Hartford society in general actually. I can't deal with them. They get under my skin and drive me crazy."

"I understand that, but how is that a weakness?"

"I'll do anything to not have to deal with them. I run away like a little kid. They make me feel like I'm 7 again. Nothing I do is ever going to be good enough because it's not what they wanted for me."

"I'm sorry that you had that kind of life."

"Don't be sorry. We can't all have Lorelei." He said with a grin.

"I know, but still."

"Enough about me. It's too depressing." He said as if he had waved the topic off with his hand. "Let's just enjoy this nice relaxing bath." Rory went back to closing her eyes and enjoying the foot rub. Soon the foot rub had become a lower leg rub. She began to grow hot as she felt his hands travel up her knee.

"Tristan, you're moving into pretty dangerous territory." She slid towards him. "It's my turn to make you relax." She whispered as she nibbled on his ear. She kissed him as she lowered herself onto him. His breath hitched and she began to slowly move up and down. She smiled as his eyes closed and his head fell over the edge of the tub. He was in pure ecstasy. No wonder he loved teasing her, it was worth it to see the facial expressions. She herself was enjoying the ride but he was already beginning to call out her name.

"Oh God, Mary." She felt his hands tighten around her hips, and it wasn't long before they both were falling over the edge. "I love you." He whispered, his voice still hoarse. She just giggled as he kissed the top of her hair.

"Come on, the water's getting cold." She said as she stood up and grabbed a towel.

"Mary." She stepped out of the tub and turned around. "Thanks for saying yes."


	11. The Beginning of a Something New

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Tristan woke up that morning to his cell phone ringing. Who the Hell could that be? He wondered as he began following the sound to the pile of clothes still in the middle of the room.

"Hello?" He said still half asleep.

"DuGray?" It was Noah.

"Yeah man, sorry I was still sleeping."

"Oh well, I've got some news." Tristan smiled. He knew what was coming. "Laura said yes! We are getting married."

"Congratulations! I'm so happy for you guys."

"Thanks, but I have more to ask of you."

"Anything."

"Will you be my best man?" Tristan smiled even more.

"Of course. It would be an honor."

"Would Rory want to be a bridesmaid?"

"Hold on, let me ask her." Noah started laughing, he knew exactly why Tristan was still sleeping.

"Ror?" he nudged her awake. "Ror." He said a little louder this time.

"What?" She said pushing his hands away from her.

"Laura wants to know if you want to be a bridesmaid in her wedding."

"What!"

"Laura and Noah are getting married."

"Yeah, I got that. Of course." She said now fully awake.

"Noah? She said she would love to." Tristan now said into the phone.

"Great. We're thinking of doing it this summer. Laura wants a small wedding so it won't be hard to pull together. I'll let you know when we set the date."

"Sounds good. Were you petrified?" Tristan asked.

"Yes." Noah began to tell him the story as Tristan settled back on the bed. Rory watched him as he laughed and spoke to his best friend. She loved seeing this side of him. I wonder when he'll ask me she thought. It was then that she realized she was going to get to see him every day for the entire summer. She smiled at the thought. Her worries from the night before meant nothing now. She was good. She went to take her shower and get ready for the long day ahead of her. When she emerged, Tristan was just finishing his conversation.

"Ok, Send Laura our love." Tristan said as he hung up the phone. "What are you thinking about?" he asked as moved closer to her. He was thinking about their future.

"I was just thinking that we get to wake up together every morning this summer. It's nice."

"Yeah it is."

"How's Noah?" she asked.

"He's good now. Last night he was a nervous wreck." He smirked.

"Poor guy. I'm going to have to call Laura later."

"It's kind of weird though, my best friend getting married. You know we met at Military School?"

"You and Noah?" he had her attention.

"Yeah, we were in the same barrack. He was there for the same reason I was, some petty crime that the parents didn't know how to deal with. Anyway, we became friends out of necessity. Neither one of us thought we needed to be there." Rory scoffed but Tristan continued."Then when we graduated, we both went to UNC and he met Laura and I met Ty and soon there were four of us instead of two."

"Poor Laura, all alone with the three musketeers."

"Ah, but now there are five." He said smiling. "And Poor Laura has another girl to talk to."

"Yes. I've been there though." Tristan looked at her confused. "I mean, I was the only girl in a trio of troublemakers too you know." Tristan nodded.

"Ah. Yes." He was clearly uncomfortable with the comparison between him and Logan so she quickly changed the subject.

"So when are they getting married?"

"This summer. Sounds like it's going to just be a small ceremony. Just friends and family." Rory smiled.

"I've always wanted a small wedding. Emily would never let that happen though." She smiled as she got up to finish getting ready.

"Hey. Where do you think you are going?" Tristan said as she moved away from him. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back into bed. She screamed as she landed on top of him with a thud.

"Are we going to have this battle every morning all summer?"

"God I hope so." He said as he ran his fingers down her cheek just before kissing her.

"Tristan. We've got to find a place to live; I've got to do that interview with the Times. There's a lot to do."

"Do we have to do it all today?" He said in a whiny tone. He knew he had already lost the argument.

"Yes." She said just to annoy him.

"Well I've got a place to live already. We just have to move all your stuff in."

"What!" She looked at him with disbelief.

"As soon as my parents found out I was going to be spending my summer here, they called their real estate agent and got me a place. They refused to let me live in some 'junkie hell-hole'. Apparently I've got enough of the DuGray name left in me that they can't let their reputations get ruined. So there are still some perks for the torture." He said with a smile.

"Apparently." She said.

"So does that buy us a few hours?" He asked as his hand slid around her waist.

"Nice try. It's just one thing off the list." She said as she showed him the list in her hand.

"When did you make a list?" He said ripping the paper out of her hand before she could react. He scanned the bullet points.

"Last night after you went to bed." She said with a smile. "I may have said yes, but I couldn't sleep without a list. Now give it back and I'll get started." He shook his head.

"You're crazy." He said as he held it over her head.

"And you love me, now give it back." She tried reaching for it. It was a futile attempt. "Tristan! Give me the list." She was serious now.

"You are sick, fighting harder for this list than you did for me." He said clicking his tongue in a disapproving manner.

"Well I'm a girl of priorities."

"Ouch." He said as he gave her the list back.

"Thank you." She said.

"Just for that, I should get a good half hour of your time." He said.

"I'll give you five minutes." She said looking at the clock.

"I'll take it." He pulled her close and kissed her gently. He laid her down on the bed and began trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone. She entwined her fingers in his hair, still messy from sleeping, and sighed. She could definitely get used to this. "You smell like vanilla." He managed in between kisses.

"Soap," she replied with a smile.

"I like it." He paused to smile and look into her eyes. Without any words, they both understood that it would be like this forever. He caressed her bare arm with his fingertips and caused her to shiver. He delved in for another long, slow kiss. Rory's head was foggy and her heart was pounding. She would never understand what it was about him that caused her insides to melt, but he always got the same reaction from her. Tristan's tongue was expertly investigating her mouth when the phone rang.

"Don't answer it." She commanded as he kissed her once more.

"I have to." He groaned before picking up the phone. "Hello?"

"Tristan dear, It's your mother."

"Hello mother." He said as he quickly got off Rory.

"Have you been to the apartment yet?" She asked in a business like tone.

"No, not yet." He said slightly irritated. "We were going to do it today actually."

"We?" she asked. "Who is we?"

"I'm dating Rory Gilmore mother, you remember Richard Gilmore?"

"Yes of course, is that her grandfather? I never realized. Will she be living with you?"

"Yes." Rory giggled at his obvious discomfort.

"Well, we'll have to have dinner with her and her grandparents some night." Tristan got a painful look on his face, which made Rory stop laughing.

"That sounds…great." It physically pained him to say the words.

"Well wonderful. You take care, and make sure to call the agent if things aren't up to our standards. Bye." The phone clicked

"Bye." He said to the dead line. Rory smiled supportively at him.

"Well that sounded interesting."

"You and your grandparents and probably Lorelei and Luke, as well as my grandfather and parents and myself are going to be having dinner together sometime in the near future."

"Ugh, no wonder you looked like you were going to die." She said with a look mixed with understanding and sympathy.

"Don't look at me like that. You are going to be there with me."

"Don't remind me. Hey, at least my grandparents liked you. I'm sure your parents will hate me."

"They can't hate you, you come from a good Hartford family. You're going to Yale. You're going to work for the Times. You're name isn't Tristan." He said bitterly as he stuffed a pillow over his face.

"Hey, no suicide missions please." She said as she removed the pillow from his hand.

"Quick, call Lorelei and tell her so that she can claim she and Luke have other plans. We don't need innocent bystanders to get hurt in the crossfire." He threw his phone at her. "I'll be in the shower trying to erase the last five minutes of my life."

"Drama king." She yelled as she started dialing the number.


	12. Cry

After Rory had called her mom and given her the heads up, she called Laura to discuss the wedding. They were soon becoming fast friends and it felt like they had known each other forever. Tristan was currently driving her to 'their' new place. Although the sound of it was still awkward, she loved saying it. She couldn't say the same for Tristan's choice in music.

"Please let me change the station." She begged for the 15th time that day.

"What's wrong with this?" He asked honestly, slapping her hand away from the radio.

"I can't listen to it anymore." She changed tactics. "Don't make me use force."

"What kind of force did you have in mind?" He asked making fun of her. She licked her lips. Tristan just stared at her. "Not going to work." She leaned over and began nibbling on his ear. "Again, not working. Just distracting."

"If you let me change the station," she began whispering the rest to him.

"Tempting Mary, very tempting, but you forget I went to the Academy. You're going to have to try harder than that." She sat back into her seat in defeat.

"You're just being mean today. First my list, now this. I'm beginning to think you get joy out of this."

"Oh but I do." He said with a smirk. "Whenever you beg me to do something, you offer me rewards." He winked her way. "And I like rewards."

"Well your rewards were just stripped for a week." She said matter of factly.

"Oh Mary. You don't mean that." He said laughing at her. She looked over at him. She looked serious as Hell. "You can resist me for a week?" He said a little more serious this time.

"You are making it very easy. Right now I would say two. I bet you couldn't last that long."

"You bet me? What do you bet me?" He couldn't refuse a bet.

"Control of the radio for a month." She looked at him with a glint in her eye.

"You're on." They shook hands to seal the deal. "Two weeks." Rory laughed. This was going to be so easy. They would be living together, sleeping in the same bed; he would crack in a few days. Tristan watched her laughing. She really didn't think he could do it. He was dead set on proving her wrong.

They pulled up outside a nice building and gave the keys to a valet.

"So far so good." Rory said in obvious delight. They took the elevator up to the 10th floor and walked down the hall. As Tristan opened the door, Rory walked in.

"Wow." It was all she could say. They had a corner apartment so it had great views overlooking the skyline. It was huge, with an entire open kitchen and living room. It was probably meant for throwing parties. She giggled as she walked down the hall. The bedroom was attached to the bathroom. It had a huge tub and shower. Tristan loved watching her face as she explored the place.

"What do you think?" He asked when she came back into the living room.

"I think it's perfect. It must cost a fortune." She said. "What do you think?" He shrugged.

"Good enough for me. But I'm pretty easy to please." He said jokingly.

"When do we move in?" She asked him. He was being unusually quiet today and she didn't know why. He seemed uneasy.

"As soon as we can I guess. Where's your stuff?"

"In storage. We can get it whenever. Mom and Luke said they'd help us." She paused. "What's wrong?" she asked from across the room.

"Nothing. Why?"

"You just seem a little, preoccupied. If you're having second thoughts we could."

"No." He interrupted her. "I'm not. I want this. I just…I keep expecting you to change your mind."

"Almost like all of this," she gestured to the area around her "is too good to be true?"

"Yeah." He replied quietly.

"I'm not going anywhere." She said with a wink.

"Good." He said relieved. "Let me just call the agent and let them know that we're keeping the place." He said.

"Hey Tristan?" She said as he was dialing his phone.

"Yeah?" He watched her walk closer to him and wrap her arms around his waist.

"We're standing in _our_ house." He couldn't contain his smile at her obvious statement. He kissed her forehead and wrapped his free arm around her. Everything was going to be ok.

OOOOOO

"Hey! More boxes! You guys need to find another hobby, 'cause this one? Yeah, not working out so well for us unpacking!" Lorelei shouted as the moving men left the room.

"Would you rather carry in the boxes?" Luke said as he brought in the plasma flat screen TV to hang on the wall of the living room. Tristan followed close behind with another box.

"No." She pouted as she went back to the box in front of her.

"It's ok Lorelei, this is the last one." Tristan said as he set it down with the rest of the boxes.

"Hallelujah!" Rory threw her hands up in the air.

"We have a lot of junk." Tristan said collapsing on the couch.

"Insert Materialism Rant Here" Lorelei said pointing to Luke.

"I'm too old to do this." Luke said. "I'm going to break a hip." Hours later, they had finished unpacking and had pizza for supper.

"Thank you guys so much for all your help." Rory said as Luke and Lorelei got ready to leave.

"Yeah, we really appreciate it." Tristan said as he shook Luke's hand.

"Anytime babe. But you owe me some serious movie marathons." She said as she pretended to limp to the door.

"I think you'll live." Rory giggled as she hugged them goodbye.

"Goodnight." They said as Tristan shut the door behind them.

"Finally." He said as they collapsed on the couch together.

"What do you mean finally?" She asked him insulted.

"We haven't had a minute alone for days." He said as he kissed her neck.

"Thinking of throwing in the towel and letting me win the bet?" She asked seductively

"Never." He whispered in her ear sending chills up and down her spine. She got up and walked to the window. "It's really happening." She muttered as she felt him wrap his arms around her. "I mean, you always dream that it would happen. But what girl doesn't want to live in the city, have a great job. But this, this is real." She said trying to comprehend it all. She turned around to face him.

"If someone told you 5 years ago, that you would be here with me. What would you have said?" Tristan asked her with a smile.

"I would have told them that they were crazy. This part," she pointed to the city. "Yeah I could see. But you? You were never in the picture. What would you have said?"

"Probably the same thing. You stood out from everyone else, but I saw myself following the same path as everyone at that school. I would be unhappy, working for my father, probably marrying a trophy wife I didn't love and sleeping with my secretary. I never thought I would be lucky enough to be here."

"And yet…Here we are." She said with a grin.

"Here we are." He smiled back and leaned in to kiss her. He was just a few inches away from her and his eyes were glancing toward her lips when his cell phone went off.

"Our timing today sucks." He said as he flipped his phone open. "Hello?" Rory watched the color drain from his face.

"What?" she mouthed to him, her furrowed eyebrows showing her concern. Rory had never seen Tristan make that face. It couldn't be a good sign.

"Where are you? Yeah Yeah, we're on our way."

"What's wrong." She said as she grabbed his hand.

"We have to go." Tristan headed for the door.

"Tristan!" She yelled as she chased him out the door. "You're not driving. Give me the keys and tell me what the Hell is going on." He finally slowed down a little as it sunk in. He slammed the elevator button.

"Gramps had a heart attack. He's not…they don't think…" He couldn't say it. Her heart sank. She didn't know what to say to make it better. "What the Hell is taking so long." He said in frustration.

"Tristan, you've got to relax." Finally the elevator door opened and they rushed inside. Rory held his hand. She had a plan. She whipped out her cell phone and started dialing a familiar number.

"What are you doing?" He asked but she shushed him.

"Logan, do you still have that plane in New York?" she said. "We need it. Now."

OOOOOO

Tristan and Rory went running into the ICU.

"Janlan DuGray?" He asked. The nurse checked the board.

"Room 210. Down the hall." She pointed with her pen. They rounded the corner and saw Tristan's parents standing outside a room. His mother looked up at the sound of the quickly approaching footsteps.

"Tristan!" Rory noticed the resemblance to Shira Huntzberger immediately.

"How is he?" His eyes were full of worry.

"He's been asking for you. Go on." She nodded to the door. He turned around to face Rory.

"Come with me? I don't think I can do this alone." He looked scared to death. She nodded.

"Of course." She took his hand and squeezed it as they entered the room. Tristan's father was standing next to the bed. Janlan was connected to a plethora of machines and wires. "It looks worse than it is." She whispered to comfort him.

"Tristan. How did you get here so fast?"

"Give us a minute?" Tristan said with every emotion breaking in his voice.

"I'll be outside." He said as he left the room.

"Way to show him who's boss." Janlan whispered. Tristan almost cried with relief.

"Gramps." He reached his hand out to hold Tristan's.

"And this must be the infamous Gilmore Girl?" he looked to the foot of his bed where Rory was standing, trying not to interrupt the moment.

"Yes sir." She said with a smile.

"Come here. Let me have a look at you." Rory walked over to stand next to Tristan. "She's too good for you." He said to Tristan with a weak smile. Tristan laughed nervously and nodded.

"Oh I like him." Rory said, a wide grin spreading across her face.

"Tristan, go get me some water will you? The nurses have been lacking in their responsibilities." Tristan looked at the table next to his bed. There was a full pitcher of water on it.

"What do you mean? There's water right here Gramps." He said.

"Just do it." He said. Rory was amazed at his ability to still sound threatening from his weak state in a hospital bed. Tristan knew he was up to something, but he played along. Once Tristan had left the room, he turned back to Rory.

"He loves you." Rory smiled. "He's made a lot of mistakes and Lord knows there will be future ones, but he's a good man."

"Yes he is. He learned from the best." She said with a wink.

"Take care of him." Rory's heart broke at the simple request. "He still needs someone to keep him in line. He needs someone as stubborn as he is." He was beginning to ramble but it was important to him. Rory took his hand and cut him off.

"I promise. You don't have to worry about him, he's in good hands." Tristan walked back into the room with a glass of water. Rory stood up. "I'm going to leave you two alone." She said standing up. As she walked past Tristan, she squeezed his arm.

"Here's your water." Tristan said as he set the cup down on the bedside tray next to the pitcher. "What did you tell her?" He asked eyeing the old man.

"That's none of your business." Tristan sat down in the chair next to the bed again.

"You scared me Gramps. I've never been so scared in my life."

"You haven't lived that long." He replied. "Tristan, I'm running out of time and I."

"Don't even start talking like that." Tristan scolded him. "You are strong. You can come back from this."

"I don't have that much breath so don't interrupt me again." He said authoritatively. "I'm proud of you, despite your rocky start, you have become a good person." He coughed and Tristan winced. "You are lucky enough to have a woman who loves you as much as you love her." He let go of Tristan's hand and took off his wedding ring slowly. "I want you to have this." He said as he slipped it into Tristan's hand. Tristan couldn't even speak. "Your grandmother's ring is in a special safe deposit box, but I've left it to you. I want you to give it to someone special."

"I will."

"Don't let me down. I'm going to be watching you." Tristan was crying now. Janlan knew it was getting close to the end.

"I won't." He said as Janlan lightly squeezed his hand.

"Gramps. Don't do this. Gramps!" Tristan hugged his grandfather as the machines around him flatlined. Nurses came in the room and Tristan was forced out into the hallway again. His parents saw his tears and knew that Janlan was gone. Rory stood up and did the only thing she could do. She held him while he buried his head in her neck and let him cry.


	13. Tomorrow

A/N: Sorry this took so long. My muse left and plus it's also been kind of hard to write this because you have to be in a semi-depressing mood to write sad stuff. Thanks for all of your amazing reviews, you guys are amazing! I hope that I can keep you coming back for more. If you have any ideas as to where the story should go…let me know! PS: Read the Disclaimer

Disclaimer: In honor of Kirby Puckett's death, I'm using a quote that he used after he woke up blind one morning. "Tomorrow is not promised to any of us." This story is for him, and for every person who brought us life's most simple joy, a beautiful smile in a world that is getting colder and colder every day. But especially for Patrick, my best friend and uncle, whose smile was just as radiant as Puck's and missed even more each day. Your disclaimer is to enjoy every second of your life, because it ends…in a heartbeat.

That night, Tristan crawled into his old bed. He felt 17 again, and he hated that feeling. He felt cold and alone and lost. It was fitting that he was in this house again. He hadn't been back here since Christmas two years ago. Rory walked into the room and lay down next to him.

"What can I do?" She asked him with sorrowful eyes.

"I don't know." He said honestly.

"Come here," She whispered as she pulled him in tighter. "It's going to get easier. I wish I could say that it will be ok again, but you'll always miss him. You got to say goodbye Tristan, and that is more than most people get." She stroked his hair above his ear as he listened to her beating heart.

"You should go to sleep Mar, you have to be exhausted." He said moving. He kissed her on the cheek. "I'm just going to need some time." He reassured her. She looked up at him with big blue eyes that were full of tears threatening to fall.

"I never want to leave you without saying I love you." She said. Tristan squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't ever let me walk out the door without saying it." He pulled her close.

"I won't." He said comforting her. "I won't." Once he heard her breathing become steady, he knew she had fallen asleep, but he kept holding her. Her thoughts haunted his. He hadn't even thought about it. If he ever lost her, he wouldn't know what to do with himself. She was the only thing keeping him together. He held her extra tight as he finally gave into to sleep.

OOOOO

Tristan and Rory stayed the next couple of days in Hartford. It was the morning of the funeral and Rory had just finished getting ready. Tristan was finishing his tie. He looked horrible, but he refused to show his pain. In fact, she hadn't seen a single emotion good or bad from him since that night at the hospital. He hadn't been sleeping at all. She was worried sick about him, but she knew that everyone grieved in different ways. He started his internship in two days. The only thing she could do was to stand beside him and help him through this. Janlan's ring was on a chain around Tristan's neck and he never took it off. She knew how much it meant to him.

"Ready to go?" She leaned against the doorframe of the bathroom. She was wearing a black dress that still managed to make her look beautiful.

"Yeah." He said as he looked in the mirror one more time. "Just let me get my jacket." His tone was icy, but she knew it was in no way directed towards her. This was the side of him that she had never seen; the Academy side, she had dubbed it. Emotion equaled weakness. It was hard enough for him to be dealing with his father and everyone he had been running from, but to do it when he was at his most vulnerable was too much for him. She knew that he was on the breaking point. The car ride was silent as Tristan maneuvered through the streets of Hartford. Rory's concerned glances didn't go unnoticed by him. He was so grateful to have her. He knew that he could trust her, but he didn't know how to tell her. "Hey Mar?" He said without taking his eyes off the road.

"Yeah?" She immediately answered, happy he was talking at all.

"I know I've been kind of an ass lately, and I'm sorry."

"Tristan, it's nothing to be sorry about. You are grieving for your closest family member. It's ok." He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really?" She smiled as she recalled the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

"Well no, but you're sad." He let his first grin slip through his icy countenance since Janlan's death. "Of course it's ok. I can't imagine what you are going through right now."

"Still, you've been great throughout this whole thing. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"You would do the same thing for me." She said as they pulled up to the church. "Remember, I love you, no matter what." She added, putting her hand on his knee. He set his hand on top of hers, covering it.

"I've got more." He said not knowing how to break the news to her. He put the car in park and looked into her eyes.

"What is it?" She asked nervously.

"When Gramps died, he left a will." She nodded for him to continue. "He left the house and the business to my father, as was expected. But he left me something too." He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He handed it to her. Rory opened it, shocked.

"Oh Tristan." It was an envelope with a check inside of it. She was pretty sure that Janlan had left Tristan almost all of his fortune.

"I want to give a lot of it to someone else, maybe some charities or something. Keep enough to pay for college and a house, maybe a car, but the rest is going. I don't want it Rory, not for what it cost me."

"Tristan, your grandfather wanted to make sure you were ok. He wanted me to take care of you. I plan on keeping my promise. He wanted you to have this money. Don't keep all of it by any means, but don't just give it all away on a whim ok? Think about it for awhile?" He nodded his head and put the envelope back into his jacket pocket.

"Come on, let's get this over with." He motioned to the door of the church with his head.

Rory walked into the church and found her mother. Tristan would be walking in with his family. She wanted to be there for him, to help him through this.

"Hey kid." Lorelei said with a sad smile.

"Hi." Rory sat down next to her.

"How's he doing?" Rory looked down at her hands.

"He's not good. He's been a mess, I'm really worried about him." She looked up at her mother again before whispering, "Janlan left him, a lot, in the will. He won't even look at the envelope. It's forcing him to accept the fact that he's really gone, you know?" Lorelei nodded.

"He'll get through this, he has us and more importantly you." Lorelei could only imagine what it was like losing the one person in Hartford you liked. It's the last reason to keep coming back. She watched as Rory turned her head to the aisle as Tristan walked by. She was going to keep him sane. He looks so sad. Tristan had quickly become like a son to her, and she knew that they had a connection on a deeper level than most people understood. They had lived the same first 16 years and that had brought them together. The reverend's voice broke through her thoughts and she turned her attention to the front of the church.

OOOOOO

Rory shut the door to the apartment and took off her coat. It was good to be back. Even though they hadn't spent a single night there, it still felt like home. She walked up behind Tristan and wrapped her arms around him. His chest expanded as he sighed.

"It feels good to be home." He turned around to face her.

"Yeah. It is." She smiled and hugged him tighter. "Do I look as exhausted as I feel?"

"No. You look beautiful, like you always do." He said as he kissed her. "Come on, let's go to bed." He started down the hallway, but he stopped and turned around.

"What is it?" She asked curiously.

"I think that's the first time I've said that and not meant anything sexual behind it…Ever." She giggled and grabbed his hand.

"I think you're right. But I won't tell if you don't." She winked and he nodded his head.

"Deal." She walked past him and he followed behind. "Unless you want to make it dirty?" He said scanning her legs and all the way up her back. She froze, wiggled a little bit and turned around.

"Are you flirting with me?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm just throwing it out there. It would be a nice way to take my mind off of other things, and I could relax a little, maybe even get some sleep." She stood in the doorway and pretended to think about it.

"What better way to break the place in?" He walked towards her and shrugged. "And this is all your idea?" She asked with an innocent face as she twisted her fingers together.

"Well I hope it's your idea too." He looked at her confused. All of a sudden he realized what she was insinuating. "You sneaky little…You wanted me to lose the bet!" She couldn't contain her guilty smile. "After everything I've been through, you were waiting for me to let my guard down!"

"Hey now! You were the one who suggested it. I was just going to bed." He pinned her up against the wall and kissed her. "Maybe we could let it slide, just for tonight." She added quickly. He leaned in and smiled against her lips.

"Maybe." He whispered and kissed her again. This time it was slow and passionate. His tongue caressed hers and a moan escaped the back of her throat. She couldn't breathe. His hands came up and laced through her hair and she tilted her head back. Rory took his already loosened tie off and threw it on the floor. Then she unbuttoned his shirt and he shrugged it off. They were full fledged making out now.

"Tristan." She opened her eyes. His were still closed. She watched as they slowly opened, they were cloudy with desire.

"Hmm?" He stated absent-mindedly, still focusing on the kiss.

"Are we going to do this in the hallway?" She asked still pressed against the wall.

"I can take a hint." He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. She screamed and started laughing.

"Tristan!" She giggled as she fell on the bed.

"Mary!" He said in a high pitched voice, mocking her expression. All of a sudden, he got really close to her face. His eyes were full of laughter but she was still taken aback by the action.

"What?" She was trying to read his face, but she was confused.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" Rory smiled at the words.

"Not recently." He kissed her forehead.

"Well I do." Rory looked up into his eyes and saw the sadness starting to slowly creep back.

"What a coincidence," she reached up and looped a finger around the necklace that was dangling from his neck and pulled him closer to her. "Because I love you too." She whispered against his lips. As she kissed him, he forgot his pain, and he felt like he could face tomorrow.


	14. Forever

Disclaimer: I own not a notion, I escape and ape content, I don't own emotion, I rent!

Tristan woke up with a start. He had been having another nightmare. His grandfather was lying in the hospital bed, unable to breathe. There was fear in his eyes, silently begging Tristan to help him, but Tristan was frozen at the foot of the bed. He couldn't do anything but watch. He felt a stirring next to him and he laid back down on the bed. Rory snuggled in closer to him and put a hand over his racing heart. He smiled at the simple gesture; even in her sleep, she knew how to comfort him.

"I'm not asleep." She said, never opening her eyes.

"I'm sorry. Did I wake you?" He asked. She turned her head towards him and opened her eyes.

"Bad dreams?" She wrapped her arms around him.

"Something like that. But don't worry about it, go back to sleep. I'm sorry I woke you." He kissed her forehead and turned over onto his side. He knew the conversation wouldn't end there.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked him curiously as she set her chin on his shoulder.

"No." He said curtly. Laconic tones weren't something that Rory usually tolerated but she knew when to take a hint.

"Ok, but if you need anything, promise me you'll wake me up." She looked at him sternly.

"I promise." He said with a comforted smile

"Oh." She gave him a long slow kiss. "And that's for better dreams." She smiled and looked at him with those innocent baby blues.

"I know I don't always say it, but you're the reason I'm staying sane through this. You know that right?" She smiled and nodded. "Good. Now go back to sleep." He said

OOOOOOO

Monday morning rolled around far too quickly and Tristan and Rory were both running in different directions. They had managed a simple "I love you and Good luck," before leaving in separate cabs and had promised to go out for dinner to celebrate their respective internships that night. Rory had been completely stressed out about her day, but she fit right in. She loved every minute of it and couldn't wait to tell Tristan all about it. After her long day, she went home and called her mother to update her on her day. She also took a long hot shower that she honestly believed was the best shower she'd ever had. She was sitting on the bed putting on her favorite pair of heels when her phone rang.

"Hello?" She asked as she continued to get ready.

"Hey Rory. It's me." She froze.

"Logan?"

"Yeah. Finn told me that you were starting your internship today. I thought I'd call and see how it went."

"It went really well." She said, not believing that was the only reason he was calling.

"Good, I'm glad." There was a long pause before Rory started again.

"So, is there anything else I can do for you?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I really am proud of you. And I want things to be ok between us. It didn't work, so what? Come on Ace, we connected. I don't want to lose your friendship just because I was an ass." Rory smiled as Tristan walked into the bedroom. He kissed her on the forehead and started to get ready for their date.

"I agree. And thank you for calling. I appreciate that."

"So was today anything like the Editor incident of '06?" Rory started laughing.

"Oh God. You had to bring that up."

"Of course I did. I saved your ass Gilmore and you know it."

"I would have done just fine with my dirty Christmas card." Tristan's attention was peaked. "And you were the one that said my ass was worth saving. I didn't even call you if you'll remember."

"Which is a wound that was just starting to heal by the way."

"I think you'll live. Anyway, I've got to run. We're going out to dinner and I've still got to get ready. But thanks again for calling and tell everyone hey for me."

"Will do."

"Bye." Tristan raised an eyebrow.

"Who was that and where can I get a dirty Christmas card?" Rory blushed as Tristan gave her a look that shook her to the core.

"That was Logan calling about my internship. And there is no dirty Christmas card. It was a bribe that I offered someone to get my way. Turns out, all you need is a good last name."

"Logan?" He was taken aback at the name.

"Yeah, he wanted to know how it went. Don't worry, we're good now." Tristan nodded suspiciously.

"Did he ask about me?" She shook her head. "Did he call you Ace?" She nodded cautiously. He walked into the bathroom and Rory leaned against the doorframe.

"Tristan. Don't be like that."

"I'm not being like that. I was just curious." She gave him a disbelieving look. "I swear. I'm glad that you two are on good ground again." He kissed her to prove his point.

"Well you should be. You have no reason to worry because I'm head over heels, quite literally," she said lifting her foot, "for you." She added as she poked her finger into his chest. "Enough about Logan, how was your day?"

"It was good. How was yours?" She looked up at him confused.

"That's it? It was good? No details, nothing? I'm a reporter Tristan, that won't do." Tristan smiled and shrugged.

"I'm a man of little words."

"Well fine then. Don't tell me." She pouted and walked out of the room.

"There isn't anything to tell! I went to work, they showed me around, told me what I was doing, I did it. Then I came home."

"You are such a guy. We are so going to have to work on your story telling abilities."

"You wound me Mary." He said putting a hand over his heart.

"I think you'll live. God you two are so similar it's scary." Tristan stopped and looked at her. She was analyzing his face.

"Who? Me and Logan?" She nodded. "Oh no. Please don't compare me to your ex-boyfriend."

"Well you two are related. It's not your fault. Besides, Logan and I are friends and he's _your_ cousin! You should at least tolerate the guy."

"As my cousin, yes…as your ex…No."

"You're my favorite." She said. "And honestly, you were the one who said he was the high school version of you."

"Are you ready?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yes I am." She said with laughter in her eyes. She loved going at it with him. She always had, even back at Chilton when they drove each other crazy. It was their thing. He challenged her and vice versa. They kept each other on their toes.

"Then let's go. After you." He motioned towards the door.

"Such a gentleman, or do you just like to watch me leave in this dress?"

"There's a reason the rules were invented the way they were," was his only reply.

"Uh-huh." She said as she walked out the door ahead of him.


	15. Clearing the Air

Disclaimer: I am not ASP

A/N: Sorry this took so long, I have the entire second half written, but I just am struggling to get from here to there. When I finally had this written was being stupid so that's also why it's taken me so long to update. I'm almost done with the next chapter so it shouldn't take so long this time! Thanks for your patience and I hope you enjoy.

On the way home from dinner, Rory stopped to gaze at a sleeping baby in the park. The mother was sitting on a park bench reading while the infant lay peacefully sleeping in its stroller.

"Oh, what an adorable baby." She whispered.

"Thanks, this is the only way I can get her to sleep. You'd think with all the noise she'd want to be inside, but I have to walk her out here to get her asleep." Rory grinned and kept watching the baby. "Do you have any children?"

"No, someday." She replied. "Good luck."

"Thanks." She answered as Rory and Tristan kept walking.

"So how many do you want to have?" Tristan asked curiously.

"What?" Rory said breaking her trance-like state.

"You said you wanted kids, how many?"

"I don't know. I hated being an only child, so definitely more than one. What about you? Where do you stand on the children issue?" She asked him almost mockingly.

"I don't know. I'm an only child too, but in my case, I'm glad no one else had to survive my family. I guess I never really thought about it."

"Really? Well I'm sure if you were to have kids, you would want sons, am I correct?"

"Of course, I'm a guy, and I don't even want to think about my daughter being with someone like I uh…used to be." He said, quickly recovering.

"Nice save." She said rolling her eyes. "And I wouldn't want my daughter going out with someone like you 'used to be' either. What about if your son was like you 'used to be'?"

"It would never happen. I would teach my son how to treat a woman properly."

"Oh really? And how exactly do you do that?"

"By always buying her dinner before you take her home." He said with a wink. She opened her mouth shocked. "Did you forget that tonight is the final night of the bet?" He asked her knowingly.

"Doesn't matter, I am appalled by that answer."

"Oh don't act all offended. I know that you miss me." He smirked. They came to their building and walked into the elevator. Tristan hit the button to take them up. Rory watched as the numbers climbed higher until half way up the elevator stopped with a shudder.

"What the…" she glanced at Tristan who was staring at the numbers too.

"Well I guess we are stuck here."

"For how long?" she asked as he hit the emergency button.

"I don't know." He watched her face. "You aren't claustrophobic are you?"

"No, I just don't like being stuck in something being held up by wire cables." She said sitting down. "Just perfect." He joined her on the floor.

"What can I do to take your mind off of the fact that you are hovering in a metal box?" He paused. "How about a game. Twenty questions? Truth or Dare? I spy?" She laughed at him and he smiled back.

"If I had to be stuck in an elevator with anyone, I'm glad it's with you."

"Me too." He smiled and wrapped his arm around her.

"I have a question for you." She said.

"Shoot." He said still staring at the elevator door.

"How many girls have you dated?"

"What?" He turned to stare at her. The question had completely caught him off guard.

"Rough estimate, how many girls have you dated?"

"Why, does it matter?" he asked.

"I'm just curious. I'm not going to get mad at you or anything."

"What do you consider dating? Like more than once?"

"I'm talking about a moment in time when you had a specific girl who you called your girlfriend."

"Before you?"

"Yes not counting me." He paused as he went back in time. She watched his eyes scan the ceiling.

"Three." He answered. "At least that I can remember off the top of my head."

"How many of those were at Chilton?"

"One, Summer."

"Ok, now how many girls did you sleep with at Chilton?"

"Rory."

"No, I'm serious. I want to know."

"Why are you bringing this up now?"

"Because I've got you stuck in an elevator and I know you can't avoid me." He laughed at her, partly for her honesty but mostly to alleviate the tension in the elevator. "I'm serious, you know that I won't get mad. It's not like I haven't heard the stories."

"What stories?" He asked curiously, truly having no idea what she was talking about.

"From other girls, about you."

"There are stories?"

"Of course there are stories. You were the most wanted man at Chilton; it was actually disgusting how much people wanted to be you, or be with you."

"Were they good stories?"

"Enough about the stories, I want to know the answer." He looked at her once more before thinking again.

"I've never been interrogated in an elevator before. On second thought, there's something else I've never done in an elevator before."

"Tristan, please?'' The look in her eyes made his defenses crumble. He couldn't say no to her.

"Eight." He said after a long pause. "That I can remember. And I know that there were times when I woke up and I was pretty sure that I had done something the night before, but I couldn't remember." She glanced at him before looking down at the carpet. "Look, I'm not proud of what I've done. And I know that there's no excuse for my past behavior but I love you. And I have never loved anyone but you, and I never will. You were always it for me. You have to believe that."

"How many girls since you've been in North Carolina?" He just looked at the floor. "Tristan."

"Two. The girls I dated, and they were both brunettes with blue eyes." He said as the elevator started moving again. Silence reigned for the rest of the trip. When the doors opened, he walked out. He unlocked the door and let Rory in first.

"Thank you." She said quietly as she passed him. She went in and turned around.

"For what?" he asked as he took off his jacket.

"For your honesty. It means a lot to me."

"Ror, are you upset?" He wanted to touch her, but he figured that wasn't the best move.

"No. I'm not. Tristan, I've dated three guys before you, and I've slept with two. One of which was married and the other was Logan, need I say more. I just, I want to know where I stand with you. I _need_ to know where I stand with you."

"You don't know where you stand with me?" he said, completely taken aback by her words. "Mary, come here." He said as he reached for her. She walked towards him and he wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear. "If you don't know without a doubt that I can't live without you, I haven't been doing my job. You should never have to question how I feel about you."

"It's not that. I know you love me, I do." She said nodding. "But sometimes I need to hear about your past. This way my imagination doesn't get away from me, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, my entire life at Chilton, all I heard about was you. And if I never have any real numbers, it's easy to believe that your exploits were bigger and worse than they really were. I just need to know for my own sanity. You know all about my past relationships and I know nothing of yours."

"That's because they're not important." He said showing his frustration. "I love you, that's all you need to know."

"But…"

"Rory, I don't want to talk about this anymore." He snapped at her.

"Ok." She said quietly, caught off guard by his anger. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean anything by it." Tristan put his hands in his hair as she left the room. After a few minutes of cooling off, Tristan walked into the bedroom where Rory was watching TV. He leaned against the doorframe and watched her for awhile. She was wearing his UNC T-shirt that she claimed smelled like him, even though he hadn't worn it since they started dating.

"You're forgiven." She said without taking her eyes off the screen.

"Who said I was apologizing?" He said with a smirk as he entered the room. She patted the bed and he sat down next to her.

"I really hit a nerve there, didn't I?"

"I guess so." He said looking at the carpet. "Look, I know you didn't mean for it to come across as judgmental but in my mind, that's what I heard. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"It happens. I'm sure I'll return the favor someday." He smiled a true smile that was reserved only for her eyes to see.

"I love you." He said as he slipped underneath the covers.

"Even the reporter in me?" she asked with a sly grin.

"Even the reporter." He said as he kissed her nose.

"Good, because I think it's going to get worse as the summer goes on." She gave him a guilty looking glance. He threw a pillow at her and turned over to go to sleep. "You got me the job, you can't complain."

"About you? Never." He mumbled. She kissed his cheek before turning off the TV and going to sleep.

OOOOO

Rory was going crazy. Her day had been incredibly stressful and she needed to take a break. She got up from the desk and decided to do what she always did when she was stressed, get a cup of coffee. As she was walking out of the building, she felt like someone was watching her. She turned around and no one even looked up at her. 'You've completely lost it', she thought to herself as she walked down the street to the nearest coffee shop. Still, she couldn't shake the feeling like someone was following her. She walked up to the counter and ordered, and while she was waiting, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She jumped a mile and turned around.

"I thought it was you."

"Jess! You scared the Hell out of me, what are you doing here?" She said as she gave him a hug.

"I'm in town for business, what are you doing here?"

"I live here, well, for the summer anyway. I'm interning at the Times for the summer."

"Really? Well, good for you. So are you out here all alone?"

"No," she said as a huge grin spread across her face. "I live with my boyfriend, we actually went to Chilton together, and everything is wonderful." Jess watched her reaction to the question in amazement. He had never seen her look this happy before. She turned around and grabbed her coffee and continued the conversation.

"Serious?"

"Very." Her face and tone both turned grave but she couldn't hold the moment for long before she was smiling again.

"Engaged?" He said as he looked down at her finger. She paused as if to ponder that question.

"I'd say more along the lines of promised. He lives in North Carolina and goes to UNC and I live up here so we both have to finish a year of school. It's more like a waiting game. But yes, I'd say that we were that serious."

"Wow. I really have to call Luke more often." She smiled. "It's all happened relatively quickly. We've only been dating since March. Enough about me. What are you up too?"

"Well, I'm still in Philly, the store is the same."

"Dating?" She interrupted.

"Yes, nothing quite as serious as you of course, but I'm currently seeing someone on a regular basis."

"You're happy?" Her question caught him and he looked up at her.

"Yeah, I am." She smiled. That was all she needed to know.

"Good." She replied. "I'm proud of you Jess. The world is finally getting to see what I always saw." He didn't know how to react to that. "That's a good thing." He smiled and glanced at his watch.

"I really have to go. I'm going to be late." He said.

"I'll walk you out." She walked out into the busy New York street and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You have to keep in touch better. Here's my new phone number if you ever are in town again, give me a call." She wrote out her number on the back of a card.

"I will," he said.

"Promise?" She pointed the pen at him.

"I promise." He gave her another kiss on the cheek and started to walk away. "Bye." Little did they know that across the street someone was watching this entire scene play out.

**Jess wasn't the one who was following her. Stay tuned to find out who it was.**


	16. You had a bad day

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Tristan was sitting at his desk when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Did Rory have any plans to meet any friends today?"

"What? Logan, what the Hell…"

"Did Rory tell you about meeting anyone today?"

"Why are you calling me?"

"Because, I saw her in a coffee shop today with another guy. And they looked, well, they looked comfortable together."

"Why are you doing this? It isn't going to work."

"Look Tristan, I don't want to get involved in this, but if my girlfriend was with another guy, I'd want to know about it. I don't want you to get hurt. I've seen how you look at her."

"Logan…"

"Tristan, they kissed and she gave him her phone number." There was a long pause. "I wouldn't be doing this unless I thought there was cause for concern."

"Listen, don't call me anymore, don't call her anymore. This is none of your business." He hung up the phone. He then proceeded to call Rory.

"Hey!"

"Hi, how are you?" He asked politely, trying to mask his anger.

"I'm wonderful… and yourself?" She asked with a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Just peachy."

"Oh no, what happened?" Rory knew the tone in his voice meant trouble.

"I just received a phone call from one Logan Huntzberger."

"Why?" The shock in her voice couldn't be disguised.

"It seems he wanted to tell me some information about your trip to the coffee shop this afternoon."

"What about it?"

"According to him, he saw you kissing a guy and then you gave him your phone number." There was silence on the other end.

"He was _following_ me?" she said completely enraged.

"Mare, no part of that was 'No Tristan I didn't'."

"Well I'm impressed, his ability to twist a story is quite good I must admit. Must take after his father."

"Mary," Tristan said, his voice annoyed. "Did you or did you not…do what he said you did?"

"Oh sorry, I should clarify. I did, but it's not how it sounds. I ran into Jess, Luke's nephew. We caught up and then we kissed each other, on the cheek, and I gave him my phone number so he could keep in touch."

"That's all I wanted to know."

"You believed him?"

"No, I just wanted to let you know what was going on. I told him to leave us alone, but for some reason, I don't think that's going to happen."

"I'm sorry Tristan, I had no idea he would stoop this low. I won't be talking to him anymore."

"Just be careful and I'll talk to you when we get home."

"Ok, I love you."

"Love you too." When Tristan hung up the phone, he was pissed as hell. How dare he? At one point in their relationship, Logan and Tristan were close, much too close to do something like this. He was immediately worried about Rory. She had said that he was following her. He didn't like the sound of that. Although he knew that Logan would never do anything to hurt Rory physically, Tristan didn't want him stalking his girlfriend either.

OOOOO

Rory listened to the click of Tristan hanging up the phone before freaking out. In her fury she still managed to deftly dial her phone. Three rings and then finally an answer.

"Rory darling, where have you been all my life."

"Finn, let me talk to Logan."

"He's not here right now, he left his cell on my table. Can I take a message, better yet can I get a conversation? I haven't heard from you in awhile."

"Finn, I really need to talk to Logan."

"What's wrong love?" Rory sighed, exasperated with all the drama of her current situation.

"Logan."

"You don't want him back do you? I thought you and Tristan were getting along swimmingly."

"No. Not at all. Tristan and I are perfect as always."

"Good. Then what's Logan have to do with anything?"

"He's stalking me." Rory heard Finn choke. "Are you ok?"

"What do you mean he's stalking you?" He managed between all of his coughing.

"I mean, I walked out of my building today and I felt like someone was following me, but I figured I was just paranoid. Then it turns out that Logan has been following me all day. He called Tristan and insinuated that I was cheating on him. I don't know what to do about it. I'm almost worried about going back to my apartment. Oh God, what if he's waiting for me there? Finn, help."

"Logan is in New York City? He told me that he was going to run a few errands, not leave the bloody state."

"Well he did. And I don't know what to do. I called to yell at him, but got you instead."

"Do you want me to talk to him about it? Feel him out a little?"

" 'By the way, talked to Rory today, wanna explain why you are stalking your ex?' That's going to go over well."

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know, I can't imagine what Tristan's thinking right now."

"God, If my friend were stalking my girl I would have to seriously injure him."

"Were they really that close Finn? I never heard either one speak of the other. You'd think that they would have brought each other up."

"Um, I hate to break this to you love, but if I was in that situation, I wouldn't be talking about my relatives either." Rory laughed.

"No, I suppose you wouldn't. Finn, what would I do without you?"

"I have no idea."

"Thanks for listening, I'm gonna head home. I might call you if he's outside my apartment. Maybe you could call the cops if you heard my screams."

"Don't over-exaggerate. If he were to kill you, he would make sure you were silent first."

"Gee, thanks Finn."

"Anytime love, take care."

"You too. Bye." Talking to Finn did little to ease her tensions of leaving the building. She went straight from the doors of her office to a cab. I'm letting him win, she thought, berating herself for getting this worked up. Logan wasn't psycho. He had no reason to follow her. So why was he doing it?

OOOOO

Tristan entered the apartment in a hurry.

"Mary, you home?" She appeared around the corner with a smile on her face.

"I'm right here." He went over to her and gave her a tight hug. He held on to her for awhile and then finally let go. Rory noticed that something was different about his body language. He was acting protective, but in an unusually strong way. "Tris, you wanna tell me what's going on here?"

"I've got some bad news." He said with a sigh. Rory laughed.

"You mean besides finding out I'm cheating on you with my cousin?"

"You won't be laughing when I tell you this." He was dead serious and she stopped laughing.

"Ok, what is it?"

"I got a phone call today from my parents." Any news starting out with that sentence could go only one way, and it wasn't up.

"Oh God." She sat down on the couch.

"It seems we still haven't met properly. Your grandparents are expecting us for dinner on Friday night."

"Oh God." She said again as she put a pillow over her face. "I thought they had forgotten about it."

"Me too, but apparently the death of a family member only lengthens the proper amount of time before calling." He watched as she got up and ran to her phone. "Calling Lorelei?" He asked knowingly.

"Yep." Tristan sighed as he thought about the upcoming dinner. Not only would he have to deal with his parents, he would also have to come across as nothing less than perfect to the Gilmores. On a normal occasion he could definitely pull this off, but with his parents in the room? They were the only two people in the world that made him feel like he was a waste of perfectly good genes. This entire dinner was going to be a balancing act, and he knew it. He went to the fridge and got himself a beer. Maybe if he started now, he could have enough 'courage in a bottle' to make this thing work. He turned to watch Rory talking animatedly on the phone. She was talking Lorelei out of jumping into oncoming traffic. They had survived so much this past few months they had been together, why did he feel like they couldn't get through a single night with their relatives? Before he could open the bottle, Rory took it out of his hands and put it back in the fridge, all the while coming up with rare sicknesses and mapping out the 23, yes 23 ways out of the Gilmore house that Lorelei had found useful as a child. She placed a bottle of tequila in his empty, still outstretched hand.

"Today, we need something a little stronger." She whispered.

OOOOO

Friday rolled around far too quickly, Tristan thought as he stood outside the Gilmore's house. Rory was already inside because he had gotten held up at work a little later than expected. A convenient truth that made him love his job at the moment. As he was pulling every last second out of his excuse as possible, Lorelei walked up behind him.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked as she stood next to him.

"Not really." He deadpanned as she put her arm around his shoulder. "Does this feeling ever go away?"

"The constant fear, the disappointment, the failure?" She said laying out his options with a wave of her hand. "All of them, still in working order. And I'm not going to tell you how long I've been on this planet."

"I thought so." He said, still not moving. Lorelei turned to face him and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Hey. You are an amazing person who deserves everything that you've worked for. You turned out better than anyone I've ever met from Hartford society, including myself. If they can't see that, then they don't deserve to."

"If I don't make it out alive," he said half seriously.

"I'm taking your record collection." She finished for him. Lorelei grabbed his hand and led him to the door. "It's now or never." She said as she pushed the doorbell. Tristan took a deep breath.

"Now or never," he whispered to himself.


	17. Dinner

Disclaimer: I own nothing

_Lorelei grabbed his hand and led him to the door. "It's now or never." She said as she pushed the doorbell. Tristan took a deep breath._

"_Now or never," he whispered to himself._

They were greeted by a servant and escorted into the living room for drinks. As Tristan turned the corner he saw his mother discussing the DAR with Emily and his father talking business with Richard. It seemed to be going well.

"Tristan! How lovely of you to join us." His mother said.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I tried to get here as quickly as I could but I'm afraid when you are an intern, your time is not your own."

"Don't apologize young man. You should be commended for your strong work ethic. Too many of your peers simply float by on their parents' money. It's refreshing to see someone actually stepping out on their own and finding a new path." Richard said as he got Tristan a drink.

"Well thank you sir." He turned to sit next to Rory. "Hello." He said quietly as she kissed his cheek.

"It's going well." She whispered to the new guests.

"The night's not over." Lorelei whispered back as she joined them on the couch. "Who couldn't love you? We're the antagonists in this picture." She said as Tristan muttered an Amen.

"So Lorelei, what do you do?" Tristan's mother asked, breaking the quiet tension.

"I own the Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow."

"Oh how lovely, I've heard wonderful things about it. I must admit I've never been there myself, but I've always wanted to have a luncheon there sometime."

"Sookie, the chef there, is absolutely amazing. You should try her pancakes." Tristan said with a smile.

"Don't be silly darling. It's unbecoming."

"Tristan, Rory was just telling us how much you two are enjoying living in the city. Do you think you'll stay there after college?" Emily asked.

"I really can't say. I would love to live in New York, but a lot can happen in a year."

"What about you Rory, would you like to stay in New York?"

"I'll go where my job takes me." She said quietly. The room silently processed this information. It was very clear to each party that a wedding was already expected and a great union of the Elite was in the works.

"Well, shall we continue this conversation in the dining room? Dinner's ready." Emily announced. The room slowly emptied leaving Tristan and Rory alone.

"They're being nice." Tristan said, still trying to process the concept.

"I told you it was going well." Rory said.

"No, something's going on. I don't know what it is, but this cannot be happening."

"Maybe they are finally deciding to let you live your life." Tristan rolled his eyes. "Or, we both come from society, have good last names and are successful and they just want to take all the credit so they can one up their neighbors."

"I think that's more along the correct lines. I've just never seen them like this before."

"Come on, they're going to wonder where we are."

OOOOO

An hour later, Tristan was arriving in New York. Rory and Lorelei had left together. She left him a note on his car that she was spending the night in Stars Hollow. His knuckles were white from clenching the steering wheel. How could he do this? Tristan thought to himself. He realized he was shaking so he took a couple breaths but nothing helped. Lorelei's words echoed in his mind, _"He's not worth it."_ He couldn't help it, he was furious.

"Tristan, just answer the damn question so your mother can get on with her life. Are you going to marry this girl or not."

Of course he was going to marry her. He knew it the very first moment he saw her. However, this was his father, so the question couldn't stop with just that.

"_I mean, she's not going to take after her mother and just ruin a young man's life, is she?"_

Tristan and Lorelei both got up from the table. Tristan's eyes were filled with anger and sorrow. She walked over to him and hugged him.

"_He's not worth it."_ She whispered. _"Just leave and let it go."_

Tristan couldn't let it go.

"How dare you come into these people's home and insult their family! These women are the best women I've ever met and no one in our family even deserves to know how great they are."

Lorelei hadn't left yet. She smiled as Tristan finally stood up to his father. She was secretly very proud of him for ignoring her request. As she listened to his huge speech from the foyer, Rory came running out to catch her before she left.

"_Mom, wait!"_

"_Not now honey, Tristan's making the best speech since Barack Obama."_

"_But I wanted to tell you something." _Lorelei turned to see her daughter's eyes were filled with tears.

"_What is it?"_ She asked, now concerned that something was wrong.

"_I'm late."_

OOOOO

Rory and her mother quickly scrawled a note on a napkin and left it on Tristan's windshield. As they sat on the way home contemplating what this meant, Lorelei finally asked the question.

"How late?"

"Only a couple days, but it's really unusual for me to be late at all."

"Have you been safe?" she asked

"Every time." Lorelei sighed.

"When was the last time you two, you know." Rory thought for awhile.

"Two weeks ago." She put her hand over her mouth to stifle any sound that might come out.

"Well, when did you realize this?"

"Just now, when he said, what he said. Oh my God. What about Yale? What about Tristan. Oh God he's probably a wreck right now and I left him all alone."

"Honey….Breathe…You have to breathe. You don't know what's going on, you don't even know if you are pregnant. For all we know, this is just a thought pushed into your head by Satan himself." Rory tried to keep from panicking. Lorelei was right. She didn't know anything, therefore she had no reason to panic.

"Do I tell Tristan?" She asked her mother.

"Do you want to know for sure before you tell him?"

"I don't know." Just then her cell phone rang. It was Laura.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rory, it's Laura. Look, I just got a call from Tristan looking for Noah and he sounded like something was seriously wrong. I know that it's none of my business but I want to know that everything is ok and Noah is off locking himself in the bedroom. Is everything ok?"

"Tristan's father insinuated that I was just like my mother and would ruin Tristan's life by getting pregnant if we didn't get married soon." Rory listened to Laura start to swear.

"Laura, Laura!" She calmed down long enough to listen to Rory. "Listen to me. I have to ask you a question. Can you keep a secret if I tell you one? I need your advice."

"Sure. Anything."

"I didn't realize it before tonight, but I'm late. Not very late, just a little late. Should I tell Tristan, or wait until I know for sure what's happening?"

"Oh my God."

"I know." There was a long pause.

"Well, I would wait until you're really late. And then I would let Tristan know. Because, you don't want to get him worked up over nothing right?"

"Right. That makes sense."

"Hey Rory?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to be?"

"I don't know. It wouldn't be a bad thing. It would just be different than how I wanted it, you know?"

"Yeah. I understand. Hold on a sec." Rory heard Noah's voice and then Laura picked up the phone again.

"Tristan thinks that you took whatever his father said personally. That's why he's a mess, not because of his father, but because of the effect on you guys."

"Mom, turn around. I'm going back to New York tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, turn around." Lorelei followed direction while Rory continued her conversation.

"I hope you get everything figured out. Either way, I want an update on the situation and as soon as you know what's going on. I want to be the first person you call."

"Ok, thanks for everything Laura."

"Bye."

"Take care." Rory sighed as her grandparent's house came back into view. She hugged her mother and got back into her own car. This was going to be the longest ride she'd ever have to take.

OOOOO

When Tristan unlocked the door, the empty apartment seemed incredibly lonely. What's that phrase, he thought, silence is deafening? That's how it feels. He hated not knowing what Rory was doing or thinking right now. He was too tired from his tirade earlier to do anything but fall into bed. Within in a couple of minutes of him falling on top of his bed, he heard the door open.

"Tristan?" It was Rory. He sat up and immediately followed the sound of her voice into the living room.

"Mary," He said, sighing in relief at the sight of her. She ran into his arms and squeezed him.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were going to Stars Hollow?"

"I was, until I realized that you needed me a lot more than I needed my mom, who by the way, sends her thanks for standing up for us."

"Why did you need your mom?" He said, pulling away with concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing now." She said as she pulled him in close again. "Now, all I want to do is sleep."

"Sleep. We haven't been doing much of that these days, have we?" She shook her head.

"Family is mentally and physically exhausting." She said as she walked towards the bedroom. At least, that's what I hope is making me so tired.

"Hey Mar," Tristan said as he changed into his PJ's.

"What Tristan?"

"You could never "ruin my life"." He whispered sincerely. She smiled through the tears in her eyes but she didn't respond. If nothing happens by tomorrow night, I'll tell him, she thought.

OOOOO

The next morning, Rory woke up with excruciating cramps. She took her cell phone into the bathroom and called her mother and Laura with the false alarm news. When she had finished with her calls, she turned on the shower, letting the thundering rain drown out the sound of her own tears.


	18. What might have been

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: Wow! Thanks guys. I wasn't really sure what the reaction would be to the last chapter but I'm glad it went over well. I was kind of hesitant to put it all in one chapter but I figured what the heck. I know there weren't a lot of details but I wanted it to be more of a 'thinking back to what happened' rather than an actual experience. Happy Reading!

Tristan found himself in an empty bed when he woke up. He didn't wake up after Rory very often. His stomach started to turn. Something was wrong. He hoped that whatever it was had nothing to do with last night. As he sat up in bed, he remembered that she had said something about needing her mom. When he had asked her about it, she had quickly changed the subject. He had let it go because he was exhausted and didn't want to talk anymore. What if it's something serious, he thought to himself. He quickly got out of bed and went on a search for Rory.

"Hey Ror?" He looked everywhere and finally found a note on the table.

_Hey, went out for a while. I have my cell phone if you need me._

Something was definitely up. Being a reporter, Rory was prone to leaving lots of details in her notes. Vague definitely didn't suit her. He picked up the phone and dialed her cell. Unfortunately, it was turned off.

"Hello, you've reached Rory Gilmore, please leave a name and number and I'll call you back. Thanks." BEEP

"Hey it's me. I was just wondering where you were and when you would be back. I thought we could have lunch together. Anyways, call me back ok? I love you."

As soon as he hung up the phone, his cell phone rang. He ran to the bedroom hoping it was Rory calling him back. It was Noah.

"Hey man. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Well, I woke up to an empty house and Rory is no where to be found." On the other side of the phone, Noah cringed.

"I'm sure she had stuff to do. Laura said that Rory came back to the apartment last night though, so she's obviously not mad." Tristan was taken aback.

"When did Laura talk to Rory?"

"Last night when we were on the phone apparently. Now that I think about it, when she hung up with her, Laura was definitely acting different."

"Different how?"

"I don't know, just…different. You want to talk to her about it? She's just around the corner."

"I don't care." Tristan said, secretly hoping he would put her on.

"I'll take that as a yes." Noah said as he handed the phone over to Laura. "It's Tristan."

"Hey Tristan! What's up?"

"You talked to Rory last night?"

"Yes I did. When you were on the phone with Noah. I wanted to know what had happened that had Noah locked in the bedroom."

"Did she mention anything that seemed to have bothered her? She said something about needing her mother, but she came home last night anyway. Then she was gone this morning and her cell phone is turned off." Laura had no idea what to say. Rory had called her that morning to tell her she wasn't pregnant.

"Well, the problem she was having resolved itself. It's no longer an issue. If she took off this morning it's probably just because she wanted some alone time. I wouldn't take it personally, and I definitely wouldn't worry about it."

"But she was having a problem?"

"Was being the operative word. Yeah, she was."

"Why wouldn't she tell me about it?" He asked her, sounding hurt. "I mean, did it involve me? Did I do something or"

"Oh no sweetie. You didn't do anything wrong. Listen, if you really want to know, you've got to talk to her about it. It's not my story to tell."

"I understand. Thanks Laura, you're the best."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be more help. Just know that you have no reason to be worried. And Rory's going to be fine. Just give her some time."

"I will. Thanks."

"Bye."

"Bye." Tristan hung up the phone. Now he was curious. What kind of problem would Rory be having that she wouldn't tell him about? They told each other everything. At least, he thought they did.

OOOOO

Rory got home around one that afternoon. She had spent her morning at a coffee shop and a bookstore and came home with a couple new books. Tristan had been sitting on the couch watching TV when she walked in.

"Hey baby. How are you?" She said calmly.

"I'm fine. Where have you been all morning?" He questioned, turning off the TV.

"I went to a coffee shop and then found a new bookstore I had never been to, so of course, I got sucked into buying a couple new books."

"I called your cell phone, but it was turned off."

"Really?" She reached into her purse and turned on her cell phone. "Sorry, I didn't realize. I thought that it was on." She started unpacking her bags when Tristan put his hands on top of hers.

"Rory, stop." She looked up at him. There was a new look on his face that she had never seen. "What's wrong."

"What do you mean?" She said, looking down at the floor.

"I mean, last night you said you needed your mom. This morning you are gone by the time I woke up. You turned your cell phone off." He paused. "I talked to Laura this morning." Rory couldn't cover the look of panic on her face.

"What?"

"She told me that whatever the hell was going on with you had resolved itself. But that also means that there was a problem to begin with." Rory immediately felt guilty for not telling him what was going on with her. Tristan's voice began to get louder. "I know that it's probably none of my business, but I want it to be my business. If something's going on with you, I want to know about it. I mean, what could possibly be so terrible that you couldn't come talk to me about it?"

"I thought I was pregnant!" she shouted at him. It took a second to register before he could talk.

"What?" His face was completely blank as shock hit him.

"I was sitting at that dinner table and your father was talking and as I thought about what he was saying, I realized that I was late." Tristan sat down on one of the barstools in the kitchen. "Not really late," she recovered, not wanting to send him into even more of a panic. "Just a couple of days. I knew that it was probably nothing but I wanted to talk things over with my mom, just so I could sort everything out in my own head, you know?" He nodded. "And the more I thought about it, the more I began to freak out, because well, it's scary. Then Laura called to figure out what had happened and I spilled my guts because I wanted to know her opinion on the matter." She paused to let it all sink in. "And then I woke up this morning, and," she waved her hand.

"So you're not." She shook her head. He took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell me last night when I asked you what was wrong?"

"Are you kidding? You had just gotten through yelling at your father. You were upset enough as it was. I didn't want to scare you when I wasn't even sure myself. Especially when your father could have been right."

"Were you going to tell me?"

"If nothing happened by tonight, I was going to do the test."

"No, I mean, after you found out you weren't pregnant, were you ever going to tell me?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I mean, there really isn't much to say." He stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She let him hold her for awhile before she pulled away. "I'm fine, you don't have to worry about it." Her voice betrayed her. She walked into the living room and put her books on the coffee table. He watched her back as she tried to keep it together.

"Mary." He said as if his heart was breaking. As she turned around, she completely lost it. He moved her to the couch and held her until she stopped shaking.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what's the matter with me."

"Are you kidding? You have no reason to be sorry. You're just letting out all the emotions you've had trapped in your head for the last twenty-four hours. I can't imagine what you've been through."

"What are you thinking?" She asked him as she dried her tears.

"Lots of things." She nodded for him to go on. "Did you want to have a baby?"

"It was scary. Eventually, I want one. Preferably after I finish college." She added semi-jokingly. "Of course, I thought about what I would do if I was pregnant. I started thinking about whether I wanted a girl or a boy, what it would look like, all those kinds of things."

"What was your final answer?" Tristan asked with a curious smile.

"If it was a girl, it would have your blonde hair but my facial features. If it were a boy, it would have my brown hair and your facial features. Purely hypothetically."

"What did you think about me?" He asked.

"I thought, Tristan is going to be the best father in the entire world. I am so lucky to have him." She said quietly. He stood up and she followed. He kissed her lightly and said.

"If you don't mind, I want to think about all this. I think I'll go for a walk." Rory nodded.

"Ok. I'll be here." He smiled and kissed her again. "I love you." She told him.

"Love you too."

OOOOO

He was sitting in a park when his cell phone rang. It was Stars Hollow.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Hey Tristan, it's Lorelei."

"Hi."

"Rory told me that she told you and I just wanted to see if everything was alright."

"I'm fine." He said convincingly.

"Wow, I forgot how good I used to be at saying that. You wanna try again?" He laughed.

"I know that it's not going to happen anytime soon, but I guess I'm scared anyway."

"About being a parent?"

"Yeah."

"Oh kid. Everyone has that, whether they were royally screwed over like us, or if they were raised in the best household ever."

"I can't be a father." He confessed.

"Yes you can. In fact, you will probably make the best father."

"How do you know? How do you know that my kid won't hate me as much as I hated my parents?"

"Because, you've seen what not to do. Don't you think that I flipped when I found out I was pregnant? I grew up with Emily Gilmore for Pete's sake." Tristan laughed a little. "But that experience teaches you a lot more than you realize. Trust me when I say that you will be a great dad. Someday."

"Hey, what was your reaction to this whole saga?"

"My first thought was, 'No! It's not supposed to be like this for her.' Followed by, 'They will be so much better off than I was.'"

"What do you mean?"

"I was sixteen, not even close to a serious relationship. Didn't have a job, or anyone to help me. On the other hand, you two only have a year left in college, you both have jobs, you're practically married and you have enough family and friends to help you do anything. You guys would have been fine."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right."

"Thanks."

"No problem. I understand."

"I should get home, Rory's going to wonder where I am." Lorelei made a whipping sound. "Bye." He added quickly before hanging up on her.

_There you go. Tell me honestly what you thought. I want to know your opinions._


	19. Spontaneity

Disclaimer: I am not ASP, nor will I ever own anything that belongs to her.

A/N: I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to know that you guys are enjoying this story. I just wanted to let everyone know that this chapter is the beginning of the end. I have the whole second part of the story already written in my head so it should be up relatively fast. Thanks so much for sticking with it and I hope you like the second part of the story!

A couple days later, Tristan had formulated an idea in his head. This in and of itself was a scary concept because Tristan was a very stubborn person. Once he came up with an idea, he was going to follow through with it. His grandfather hassled him about it, but now that he was a 'reformed' man, he figured that it wasn't such a bad thing. After all, it was his stubbornness that had finally gotten him Rory.

"Mary!" He said as he entered the apartment.

"What?" She asked as he came around the corner into the bedroom.

"When was the last time you did something spontaneous?" He asked with a glint of mischief in his eyes. Normally, this would cause Rory to go into a panic mode that would end up with her saying. 'What the Hell are you thinking?' but she had been under a lot of stress lately and didn't want to put up the struggle with his ironclad will. Plus, she was a naturally curious creature. So instead, she replied.

"Not for a while, why?" She asked while he dug out their suitcases from the back of the closet.

"We're going on a little trip." He said throwing clothes into each bag.

"Oh really? And where are we going?" She said, playing along.

"I was thinking maybe Paris." He said seriously. "My family owns a chateau right outside of the city." She started laughing.

"Oh my god. You're not kidding." She realized.

"Not at all." He said with a grin.

"Tristan, we can't just pick up and leave the country for a few days. What about work?"

"If we leave right now, we can spend Saturday, Sunday and Monday in France and be back by Tuesday. Call in sick on Monday, you'd only be missing one day. Come on, you know you want to."

"Wanting to and being able to are two very different things." He gave her a pout.

"What's stopping you?" She thought about it a little longer. "Seriously, this is the best time to do it. We are going to be busy for the rest of the summer. We already are taking our vacation time for the wedding in a couple weeks. And as much as I love North Carolina, I'd hardly call it a vacation." He saw the look and waited for the question.

"Do you understand how much this is going to cost?" She asked

"Mary, I don't know how many times I've told you this, we can afford just about anything." She sat down on the bed.

"That's such a strange concept."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." He said quickly. "Come on, what do you say? Where's that sense of adventure and curiosity? We need a vacation and for more than one reason." She was actually starting to go with it. It did make pretty good sense, and she would only miss one day of work.

"You promise we'll be back by Tuesday?" She said with a sideways glance.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." She giggled at his answer and threw her hands up in the air.

"Then I guess we are going to France."

"Yes!" He said as he picked her up and spun her around. "You finish packing and I'll call and get everything arranged." With a quick kiss, he had left Rory with a bed full of clothes shoved into suitcases.

"I don't even want to know how he survived without me." She muttered as she took all the clothes out and started folding them properly.

OOOOO

"You made a list." He said as they boarded the plane

"I did not! I was being spontaneous!" She objected a little too loudly.

"It's ok. You can admit it. I have no problems with a list." He smiled at her.

"Ok, but I struggled with it. I really struggled." She said giggling a little.

"I'm sure it was. The first step is admitting you have a problem." As the plane took off, Tristan slipped his hand into Rory's. A woman on the other side of the aisle smiled.

"Are you two on your honeymoon?" She asked politely. Rory shook her head.

"No, just a vacation."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't assume but you make such a great couple." Rory smiled as she thought about their relationship. It seemed like they had been with each other their entire lives, when in reality it had only been a couple of months. Tristan squeezed her hand a little and Rory turned and glanced at him. He often wished he could stop time, and this was one of those moments. It's too soon to get married, he thought to himself. Right? He wasn't an expert on dating lengths but surely a couple of months didn't qualify as a proper span of time. Then again, he wasn't one to follow the rules. And their current living situation did change things. They were practically married already. On the other hand, they both had to finish college. Tristan's head began to fill up with a Pro/Con list. Rory soon fell asleep and Tristan began writing all of these thoughts onto a piece of airline stationary.

"God, Rory would be so proud." He muttered under his breath.

OOOOO

"Oh my God!" Rory exclaimed as she entered the Chateau Dugray. "This place is absolutely stunning."

"You're absolutely stunning, this is just a house." Tristan smirked.

"I can't believe that we're here, in France!" She went up to kiss him but he stopped her.

"This is our first kiss in a foreign country, gotta make it count." He said as he tipped her back. She threw her arms around his neck and gasped in shock as he gave her one of the best kisses she's ever had. As soon as her head stopped spinning, she wanted to return the favor. She stood up.

"I hear it's always better the second time around." She leaned in to kiss him and they were swept up in each other again. Tristan instinctively ran his fingers through her hair and began to kiss her neck. Rory moaned and needed the wall to hold her up. His lips trailed up her neck and behind her ear and back down to her collarbone. She leaned down and caught his lips again. Tristan felt her small fingertips brushing across his skin under the hem of his shirt. She lifted the shirt over his head and began trailing kisses across the top of his chest.

"Bedroom." He managed to spit out. She pulled away long enough for him to pick her up and wrap her legs around his waist. She continued to kiss him as he carried her to the nearest bed. He placed her gently on the bed, her legs still wrapped around him, and stopped.

"Tris?" She questioned. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face but kept his hand on her cheek.

"Marry me." He said simply. She completely froze.

"What?"

"Marry me." He said again, as if it was just another sentence. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his list. "Before you answer, I've already made your list." She took the stationary out of his hand. He noticed she was shaking. She moved to sit up and Tristan sat down next to her.

The reasons Rory should marry me:

I feed her caffeine addiction

I still call her Mary even after all the filthy stuff we've done

I know how to cook

I'm not so terrible to look at

The sex is mind-blowing

I love her more than anyone else ever could, and she knows it.

The diamond I'm holding is huge.

She looked up and saw a box in the palm of Tristan's hand.

"Where's the other half of the list?" She asked curiously.

"It wouldn't be in my best interest to show you that half now would it?" He said with a trademark smirk. She smiled.

"Touché." She eyed the box again.

"Nah ah ah," he said shaking a finger at her. "Not until I get an answer." She smiled.

"Well," she started to tear up, "I guess I'll have to say yes then."

"Really?" He looked at her tears.

"Yes, Tristan. Nothing would make me happier." He got down on one knee and opened the box. Rory gasped at the sight in front of her. Inside was a gorgeous white gold band with a huge diamond in the center and two smaller diamonds on either side. It was simple and elegant. I couldn't have picked a better choice out if I had a million rings, she thought. He took the ring out and slid it on her finger. They kissed passionately.

"I love you." He whispered in her ear, the emotion breaking in his voice.

"I love you too." She said through her own tears. She kissed him again, never letting go.

OOOOO

The next morning, Tristan woke up to find Rory gazing at her fingers.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, his voice still groggy from sleep.

"That I need to get a manicure because everyone will be staring at my hands." He smiled.

"No morning after regrets?"

"None," she said with a kiss. "Did you plan it like this?" She asked him.

"Like I would plan to propose to you half naked in bed, _before_ I got lucky?" She giggled. "It was a day for spontaneity. I just looked down and saw you staring up at me and I thought, 'What are you waiting for? You're never going to find anyone better than her.' So, I blurted it out. I know it wasn't the most romantic turn of events, but,"

"Shhh." She placed a finger on his lips. "It was perfect." She traced his lips with her finger. "You had a ring, that meant that you were going to ask eventually." She pointed out.

"Well, I was walking by a jewelry store and I saw it in the window. It looked perfect so I went in to ask about it. The lady behind the counter said that there were three diamonds because it represented the past, present, and future. I liked that idea."

"So you just bought it. Just like that?" He nodded. "Is that why you brought me to Paris?"

"I wanted to take you somewhere special, just for a vacation and then I thought, if I'm taking you somewhere special, I might as well ask you while we are there."

"You made a list." She said.

"That was on the plane while you were sleeping."

"Were you nervous? You didn't seem nervous."

"I was a little afraid you would say it was too soon." He admitted. She smiled and leaned in closer to him.

"Can I tell you a secret?" She asked in a near whisper.

"Of course."

"I've wanted to marry you for a long time." He smiled.

"How long?"

"I think when you met my mom, I realized that you were probably the only person in the world for me."

"We had only known each other a day or two." He said, laughing at her, but knowing she was right.

"Yeah, but I knew. I knew the moment I saw you again that something was there. Love at second sight?"

"Sure. But can I tell you a secret?" He leaned close, mimicking her.

"Of course." She smiled.

"For me, it was love at first sight." She wanted to cry but she just curled up tighter against him and put her head on his chest.

"What did I do to deserve you?" She said quietly. Tristan laughed.

"I ask myself that same question every day." He said as he kissed her forehead.


	20. Telling the Parents

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: This chapter is really short, but I am giving you 4 chapters in one sitting so I don't want to hear any complaining. Hehe

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" Tristan asked as he handed her the phone.

"Yes. I was always told to call day or night. Besides, I'll bring her coffee when we get back to the States. If it was my daughter I would want to know right away."

"Ok. If you're sure." He said with a chuckle. He figured it was about four in the morning in Connecticut, Lorelei would be pissed. She put the Speakerphone on and listened to the ringing.

"Hello?" Luke barely managed.

"Luke, this is Rory. Wake mom up."

"Rory? Are you ok?" He said a little more alert this time.

"I'm fine but I do need to talk to mom." She listened as Lorelei woke up, slowly.

"Dead or bleeding?" She asked groggily.

"Neither," Rory confessed.

"Then why are you calling me?"

"I'm in France."

"What? I thought you said you were in France."

"I am."

"What!" She heard Luke say as she stifled a giggle.

"But wait, there's more."

"What more could there possibly be than, I'm in France."

"I'm getting married?" There was dead silence on the line. Tristan looked at Rory, waiting for some sign of life on the other side of the world. "Mom? Are you ok?"

"You're getting married." She repeated just to clarify.

"Well, not any time soon but yes." Then the tears started.

"Oh my God. Oh my God! Luke, they're engaged!"

"I'm sorry for calling right away, I know the time difference kind of sucks but I thought you would want to know."

"Of course. Um, God I need coffee. What are you doing in France? How did he propose? What does it look like? The ring I mean."

"Oh, it's white gold with a two carat diamond, and smaller diamonds on either side. It's absolutely gorgeous." She smiled at Tristan. "He decided to surprise me and took me to France, but don't worry, we'll be back by Tuesday. We stepped into his chateau and within like five minutes he just blurted it out. Then he handed me a list of all the reasons I should say yes."

"He gave you a list? How romantic." She deadpanned. "Wait, he has a chateau?"

"Hey! I thought it was pretty good." Tristan interjected.

"Oh, hello future son-in-law. Welcome to the family. I'm sorry, remember no coffee."

"It's a miracle she's talking at all." Rory added.

"Do you want me to tell Miss Patty and Babette?"

"Absolutely."

"No." Tristan and Rory both said at the same time. Rory shot him a look. "What?"

"They deserve to know."

"Fine," Tristan gave up. "But I'm not going to be anywhere near them for at least a couple of weeks."

"They don't have our phone number or anything right? I'm not going to come home to a thousand messages." Rory compromised.

"No, I'll tell them to keep the congrats to a personal level only." Lorelei tried to laugh but she was too tired.

"Ok, well, I'll let you get back to sleep and I'll see you when I get back to the States."

"Alright, Congratulations you two. I love you."

"Thanks. Love you too." She hung up the phone and looked at Tristan.

"One down, two to go." Tristan replied.

"Somehow I think that the last two will be the hardest." Rory said. "Richard and Emily will be happy, but way too energetic. I don't want them to plan our life. I like our life." She said as she crawled into his lap.

"Would you rather tell my parents? Seriously, I'll trade you in a heartbeat."

"I'm not telling your parents. They need to hear it from you. Be sure to add 'I don't want you to plan our life'."

"Oh, I've got an even better idea." He said as he grabbed the phone.

"What are you doing? You can't wake them up at this hour."

"No one is home. Well at least in regard to my parents." He dialed the number.

"Hello?" Came a very groggy voice.

"I asked Rory to marry me." Tristan grinned.

"Yeah, so." Noah said, pissed that he had called so early.

"She said yes." Rory smiled. As Tristan went off explaining the situation, she noticed his face. He was beaming. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face either. They may be crazy, but they were a happy crazy.

OOOOO

As soon as they got home, they called the Gilmores and the DuGrays and told them the good news. Emily was a little upset that Rory didn't come and tell her in person, but she couldn't stay mad for long. Immediately the planning for the wedding of the century began. Rory wasn't aware of this of course, but she figured that it was going on and the less she knew the better. Tristan whole-heartedly agreed that denial was the best way to handle the situation.

"You're a cheater!"

"I don't cheat! I'm just lucky." Tristan said with a smirk.

"I've never lost this much in my life. That means that you must be cheating!" She said as she tackled him from across the coffee table, sending cards and chips scattering across the room. He flipped her over and held her to the couch. "Damn the military." She muttered under her breath. Just as she opened her mouth to go off on an additional tirade, the phone rang.

"Hold that thought." He said with another smirk as he picked up the phone.

"Hello."

"Tristan, it's Logan." At the sound of Logan's drunken voice, he immediately let go of Rory.

"I thought I told you never to call here ever again." Rory shot up and listened in.

"I know. I just wanted to say, to give my, congratulations. I really am happy for you two." She rolled her eyes and made a puking gesture.

"Thanks, now go away." He was about to hang up the phone

"I also wanted to say sorry, for any trouble I caused you. I really didn't mean to get in the way."

"Yes you did!" Rory shouted into the phone. She ripped the phone out of Tristan's hand. "Why are you doing this?"

"I'm sorry." He said as he hung up. Rory looked at the ceiling.

"The only good thing he ever did was bring us together again. I don't know why I ever dated him."

"That's true. He did bring us together again." Tristan said. "He also tried to tear us apart." He added angrily.

"The key word is tried." She said raising her left hand. He smiled at her attempts to calm him down.

"Yeah."

"Are you happier now?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I guess so."

"How 'bout now?" She asked, straddling him and peeling off her shirt.

"Good," he said, trying to keep a straight face, "But I could be happier."

"What about if I…" She whispered the last part as she nibbled on his ear.

"Oh I think that would do the trick." He said honestly with wide eyes.


	21. North Carolina

Disclaimer: I own the characters I make up in my head…and nothing else.

Tristan and Rory got off the plane and were greeted by a very excited looking Ty. Rory went running into his arms and Tristan stopped to laugh at the sight. He was so happy that his friends and Rory were so close. It was as if they had adopted her into their group.

"Careful Tristan, I have no problems stealing her away from you." Ty said as Rory left his embrace.

"For some reason, I don't think that will be a problem." She said as she showed him the ring.

"Good lord. It's even bigger than you described it!" Ty looked at Tristan in surprise. "We all thought you were kidding when you said you came from that much money."

"Yeah well, I wasn't." He said with a straight face. "Come on, we've got a bachelor party to plan."

"Rory, Laura is going to be so happy to see you." He said as he helped take their bags.

"Way to change the subject Ty." She said with a grin and a wink.

"I try." He smiled sheepishly, knowing he'd been caught.

Once they got to the hotel, Rory immediately went to Laura's room. She was just about to knock when the door swung open.

"RORY!" Laura squealed as she gave her a huge hug.

"Congratulations!" Rory said as she pulled away.

"Oh the same to you! Let me see that ring." Rory put out her hand and Laura smiled. "You're not hurting yourself are you? Carrying that thing around must be demanding."

"Yes, but someone's got to do it." Rory said as she threw her hand over her eyes.

"Come in, we have to try on your dress!" She pulled Rory into the room.

"Oh Laura, it's perfect." She said as she held up the baby blue silk gown.

"Well, we do live in North Carolina, blue is in everything we do." She grinned. "Plus you look so adorable in it." She paused as Rory went in to try it on. "Thanks again Rory for doing this. You have no idea how much it means." She walked out and smiled at Laura.

"I was more than happy to. You guys are like family." Laura looked at her astonished.

"Now that is a fuck me dress." Rory smiled and spun around. "It fits perfectly."

"Are you nervous?" Rory asked as she went back into the bathroom.

"Not at all. Most people say that it hits you the night before, but I'm doing pretty good so far. I couldn't think of anything in the world that I want more. I'm anxious though. I want it to just be over already!" Rory appeared again and smiled.

"I know exactly what you mean."

"So tell me all about the proposal. I'm afraid Noah was a little vague on the details. Was it romantic?" Rory smiled and nodded. "I knew it would be." They spent the rest of the night catching up and giggling.

OOOOOOO

Tristan was unpacking when someone knocked on the door. He opened it and there stood Noah.

"DuGray, do you realize that our future wives are ganging up on us?"

"Do I even want to know?" Tristan said as he went back to unpacking.

"Probably not. So what's new?" Noah sat on the bed.

"Well besides the fact that my best friend is getting married, not a whole lot." He smiled.

"Did you ever think that we would be here? I mean, do you remember the first day we met back at the Academy?" Tristan laughed at the memory.

"Seems like just yesterday."

"And now, here we are, two grown men getting married and settling down. It's weird to think about. I still haven't gotten used to calling Laura my fiancé, now I get to start calling her my wife."

"But would you really want it any other way?" Tristan said thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't trade it for anything." Noah said quietly.

"I'm really happy for you man." Tristan said as he slapped him on the shoulder. "You deserve this, more than anyone I know." Noah smiled and looked at him. "You do too." Just then another knock disrupted the emotional moment between the two friends. Noah went to answer it.

"DuGray, I do believe you owe me a round after driving you home from the airport." Ty said as he came smashing through the door.

"I do believe you are right." Tristan said as he mimicked his friend. "Come on, I know the perfect place."

OOOOO

Tristan came back to the room around two in the morning and Rory was nowhere to be seen. He crawled into bed and was just about asleep when she came sneaking in. He didn't move while she snuck around and crawled into bed next to him.

"I love you." She whispered as she kissed his forehead.

"I love you too." He said and pulled her closer to his body. "How's Laura doing?"

"She couldn't be happier. She was giving me all the tips I need to know for our wedding."

"Oh yeah?" he asked paying more attention this time.

"Yeah. Now go to sleep, we have to be awake tomorrow to keep the Bride and Groom sane."

"Hey Ror?" Tristan whispered as he moved a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saying yes." He said almost asleep. Her heart overflowed with the simple sentence. She closed her eyes and nodded.

"Thanks for asking." And with that, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

OOOOOO

Tristan woke up with a start. He had just had a terrible nightmare. He had been chasing Rory. She just kept calling his name but he couldn't find her. He looked over expecting to see Rory sleeping, but she was gone. He looked at his watch on the nightstand, 8 o' clock. She had already left to help Laura get ready. His heart still racing, he climbed out of bed and got ready for the big day.

Rory had just finished with Laura when Ty came in the dressing room.

"Oh Laura, you look amazing!" He gave her a big hug.

"How's he holding up?" She asked nervously.

"He wants it to be over and done with." He kissed her cheek. "And when he sees you, he's going to lose it."

"Ror, Tristan's looking for you." Amy, Laura's sister said as she walked back into the room. She was the other bridesmaid and Ty's other half for the wedding.

"You go find him. I'll be here." Laura said as she turned to look in the mirror.

"I'll find out what I can." Rory said with a wink. As she walked down the hall of the church, people were starting to gather. She knocked on the guys' door. Tristan opened it. When he saw her, his jaw dropped. He looked behind him and shut the door.

"Mary, you look…" He couldn't put a sentence together. "I mean, that dress is…Wow."

"Speechless? Laura knows how to pick 'em huh? You know, she has a very special name for this dress."

"What's that?" he said still unable to look her in the eye.

"Well I can't tell you that. You do realize that every guy I've passed has looked at me like that." She said with a smirk. His eyes immediately shot up to meet hers.

"Yeah well, I'm the guy that gets to take you home at the end of the night." He said as if it was an accomplishment.

"What was it that you wanted?" She asked feigning annoyance.

"I hadn't seen you yet today and I missed you." He said honestly. "I knew that we probably would be busy later so I just wanted to see you before things got crazy."

"Well aren't you just a romantic." She said as she kissed him. "And I promise, tonight, the dress is all yours." She said with a wink. He pulled her back and started kissing her neck. She leaned against the wall and sighed. "Tris, we're in a church." She giggled. He let up and put his forehead against hers.

"Ok, but tonight, you're mine." He stated matter of factly.

"I'm always yours." She said seriously. "And this ring proves it." She flashed him the ring and walked away. Noah walked out and saw Rory walking away. He whistled and she shook her body.

"Damn DuGray, you know how to pick 'em." He said.

"Everyone is going to be looking at her like that, aren't they?"

"Yes they are." He laughed and grabbed him. "Come on, let's get this over with." The boys headed towards the front of the church. Tristan and Ty stood on Noah's left side and looked down the aisle. The music started to play and in walked Rory. She kept her eyes on Tristan the entire time she walked down the aisle. In a few months, this is going to be me, she realized. Tristan felt it too. She winked at Noah and moved to her place in front of the church. Amy was right behind her. Noah started to shake in anticipation. The music changed and in the back Laura appeared next to her father. Tristan heard Noah's breath hitch when he saw her. She looked radiant. She was crying as she made her way closer to her future husband. The smile on his face was unmistakable, he couldn't have been happier if he tried. Rory started tearing up when they gave their vows, but she never lost control. Tristan scanned the crowd. All the women were bawling. Women, he thought. He glanced over at Ty. He was flirting shamelessly with Amy and she was flirting back. Oh Lord, he thought, they're gonna be next.

"You may kiss the bride." Everyone started to clap and cheer for the newly weds. As they made their way down the aisle, Rory and Tristan followed behind them. They got in the limo for the wedding party.

"Well that was amazing." Ty said as Amy scooted in closer to him. "Were you guys taking notes?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think our wedding will be this cool." Rory said as she looked at Tristan.

"And why not?" Tristan asked.

"Two words. Hartford Elite." Tristan shuddered at the phrase. "My grandparents and your parents will have invited well over 300 people by now. We will have the wedding of the decade and I guarantee little say in anything including the color and the dress." Tristan wrinkled up his nose.

"It's true." He nodded. Rory got a sudden look on her face.

"Unless…"she looked at Tristan.

"What?"

"We could surprise them." She said casually throwing it out there. "I mean, once we get back to the city we could throw an engagement party in Stars Hollow. People would buy that right? And when they show up, we could just say Surprise, we're getting married today."

"It worked for Faith Hill." Amy said. "And you would get the wedding you wanted. Small, discrete, no Hartford elite." Ty nodded.

"Plus, it would piss off your parents," he motioned towards Tristan. Although the thought made him secretly really happy inside, he couldn't do that to Rory.

"It's completely up to you." He said looking at Rory. "It's your wedding. As long as you are there, I'm good. Besides, aren't girls supposed to want big, expensive weddings?"

"Supposedly. But it would require that we spend a lot of time with your mother and Emily. At least twice a week until the wedding is planned. Plus all the extra time you would spend driving to and from Hartford." She said in a sing-song voice.

"Ok, surprise wedding it is then." He said jokingly as they pulled up to the pub where the reception was being held. It had balloons and streamers all over the entrance. "Hey." Tristan held her back while Ty and Amy got out. "Are you sure you wanna do this? This is your day, and I want it to be perfect."

"Of course it will be perfect. I just need a dress, some of Sookie's cake and you."

"In that order?" he said pouting as she climbed out of the limo.

"Always." She said as if it were common knowledge.


	22. Wedding Bells

Disclaimer: I  ASP, I own nothing

**Everything in Italics is on the screen.**

It was the morning of the engagement party and everyone was busy. Tristan had just gone out to pick up Ty, Laura and Noah from the airport and Lorelei had finally cornered Rory.

"So Tristan has some pretty good friends, flying all the way up here for his engagement party." Rory smiled.

"They are amazing, but Tristan's paying for it, so it's not like they are going too far out of their way. Plus, it's really his true family. It means a lot to them to be here today."

"Rory, why do I get the idea that there is something else going on here today that I don't know about?"

"Because there is, but I don't know the secret either. Now I've got to go finish helping set up the gazebo. I know nothing about this, but knowing Ty, it's going to be fabulous." She grinned and started walking away.

"This conversation is not over!" Lorelei screamed as the front door slammed shut.

OOOOO

When Tristan saw the trio walking towards him, he couldn't contain the smile that spread over his face.

"Hey guys." He said as Laura hugged him. "How was the honeymoon?"

"It was great, we learned how to Scuba dive." Laura replied.

"Amongst other things." Noah winked.

"So, how many people know about this surprise wedding?" she asked quickly changing the subject.

"Well, us, the three of you, and the pastor."

"Not even Lorelei?"

"No, although I'm pretty sure she suspects that something is going on because she was trying to grill Rory when I left. Come on, I'll help you get your bags."

OOOOO

"Honey, I'm home!" Ty yelled as he entered the house.

"Ty!" Rory came around the corner and jumped into his arms. "I'm so glad to see you! Please tell me what's going on."

"No, I'm here to make sure you don't leave the house, but I brought reinforcements." He said opening the front door again to reveal Laura. Rory reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her in the house. Lorelei was standing just outside the living room. She hoped to grasp some information from the strangers.

"Are you home alone?" Laura whispered. Rory shook her head and Ty pretended to zip his lips.

"Mom? Where are you, come meet our guests." Rory shouted with a smile on her face, knowing where she was.

"Coming," she said as she walked in. Ty glanced at Lorelei and then took a better look.

"Rory, you didn't tell me you had a hot mom." He said under his breath.

"Hi, I'm Lorelei. Welcome to the Hollow."

"Mom, this is Ty and Laura. Her husband, Noah, is Tristan's best man, but they both seemed to have disappeared."

"They are off doing secret things. This place is turning into an Agatha Christie novel." Lorelei smiled.

"I just wish I knew what they were up to." Rory said. "I don't like secrets."

"Noah wouldn't even tell me what was going on, so don't look at me." The three women turned to Ty.

"Don't worry, Tristan doesn't know either. He's at an undisclosed location."

"You've kidnapped my fiancé?" Rory gasped.

"Just momentarily. He'll meet you at the gazebo. We just wanted to do something special for you two. Trust me, it's going to be great." Rory rolled her eyes.

"Ty, why do I get the feeling that phrase will come back to haunt me?"

"Now I know you may not trust me, but I have Noah, and a few other people helping me out."

"Like who?"

"Oh now I've said too much. Gotta run!" He said as he left the house in a hurry.

"Ty! Come back here!" Rory yelled, but it was too late, he had already gotten in Tristan's car and was driving away.

OOOOO

Rory took one last glance in the mirror as a single woman. She had a beautiful white sundress on and was just finishing her lipstick when Laura came pounding on the door.

"Ror, come on. We're going to be late." She opened the door.

"I'm almost ready." She said with a smile.

"You're getting married tonight." Laura whispered. "Are you nervous?"

"Not at all, I feel like I'm just going to another party. I guess when you live with the guy, nothing's really changing. I already had my panic attack months ago."

"Come on, let's go shock the world." They walked to the town square together. Rory had yet to see it at night, but it was gorgeous. There were twinkling white lights everywhere and candles all over the gazebo. It was perfect. It was then that she noticed the huge white screen in front of the gazebo.

"It's part of the surprise." Laura whispered.

"You knew!" Rory said accusingly. She nodded guiltily and kept walking. "I can't believe you knew and didn't tell me!"

"Well, it was a surprise!" Just then Tristan spotted them and he found it hard to breathe. Rory looked like an angel in her white summer dress. He was reminded of that night at the garden party when he first spotted her in the moonlight. She walked over to him and smiled.

"Hi." She said.

"Hi." He replied.

"So, you nervous?" she asked, trying to make the moment as light as possible. He just shook his head and leaned in for a kiss.

"Hey!" Laura broke the moment before he got the chance. "Everyone's here so if you don't mind, we'd like to get started."

"Great timing!" He shouted to her retreating form.

"I try." He grabbed Rory's hand and they headed up to the front table and chairs. Everyone was starting to sit down at various tables and when everyone had found a seat, Noah began.

"First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight to celebrate the engagement of my dear friends Tristan DuGray and Rory Gilmore." Everyone cheered and clapped and he continued. "Now, I've known Tristan since he was seventeen. However, even at the age of seventeen, I had already missed the previews and the beginning of the Tristan and Rory movie. So as the best man, I asked Tristan to give me a Cliff notes version of what the beginning was like. However, he didn't know that I was secretly taping the entire session. My lovely wife Laura did the same thing to Rory and this is what we came up with. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present "Mary and Bibleboy: Chapter One." Rory and Tristan were both laughing and slightly embarrassed that they had been involved in their own surprise. The movie began, with a baby picture of Tristan. Ty was narrating.

"_Tristan Janlan DuGray was born on…."_

"_Ty, skip ahead a bit will you?" Noah's voice said cutting off Ty mid-sentence._

"_Where to?"_

"Just let me do it." Everyone laughed. The movie was cut off and started over. "Our story starts with Rory's first day of Chilton." The movie cut to Tristan sitting on the couch at his apartment in North Carolina.

"_She was new and I immediately wanted to know who this naïve girl was. I offered to help her study."_ Tristan started laughing. He remembered this conversation.

"_I met Tristan at Chilton, on my first day of school. The first thing he did was hit on me."_ Rory laughed and pointed at him. "_He kept calling me Mary, which drove me crazy."_

"_She was someone who was different, I was totally intrigued by her. She was the only girl at Chilton who refused to have anything to do with me."_

"_He drove me nuts. He was always making out with girls in front of my locker. He was a total player and I wanted nothing more than to be rid of him._

"_I knew she had a boyfriend, but I asked her out anyway. She refused, multiple times."_

"_He just kept asking me out, like I would suddenly change my mind."_

"_Then at the formal, I got into a fight with her boyfriend."_

"_He tried to beat up Dean."_

"_It was stupid, but I was really stupid back then."_ Rory laughed and agreed.

"_Things really started to change after that."_

"_Then came our first kiss." _The crowd started oooing.

"_I had just broken up with Dean and I was feeling miserable, so my mom sent me to a Chilton party."_

"_My girlfriend Summer and I broke up at the party. I retreated into a side room to sulk."_

"_He was just sitting at the piano. And for the first time, we really talked."_

"_She was so genuinely nice, even after I had made her life miserable."_

"_He said 'You're really odd, you know that?' and then it just happened."_

"_And then I kissed her. And then she started crying."_

"I started crying and I ran out of the room." Rory nodded ashamed.

"It's true." She told the crowd.

"I figured I had blown any chance I had with her."

"The next time I saw him, I tried to explain that it had nothing to do with him. I don't think he believed me. Anyway, after that we sort of became friends."

"She told me the kiss didn't make her cry, but I never believed her. And then she got back together with her ex-boyfriend."

"And then we were thrown together to do the play."

"Romeo and Juliet. Like the universe hadn't tortured me enough."

"And to make matters worse, we had the end scene."

"I once again enjoyed making her nervous. I got to kiss her in front of Dean, which was something I could definitely hold over his head."

"But we never got the chance to perform it, because ten minutes before the scene, he was no where to be found."

"I had gotten into some trouble involving a safe."

"Then he comes in and tells us he can't perform because he's being sent away to military school."

"I got to say goodbye to probably the only person I would ever really miss at that school."

"And I was sad that he was leaving. Which completely took me by surprise. Then being his typical self, he said 'So I'd kiss you goodbye, but your boyfriend's watching. Goodbye Mary.' And he walked away."

The movie stopped and everyone clapped. Noah returned to his position.

"Well, two days after that fateful night. Tristan wandered into my life and we hit it off right away."

"Brothers from another mother." Tristan pointed and shouted up to Noah.

"It's true, but he told me about this girl. His Mary." He said looking at Rory. "By the time that we had graduated we were both different. We had grown up. We went to UNC, happy to be surrounded by women again might I add. And I found Laura."

"Ahhhh." Rory said.

"And for the first time, I understood what Tristan was talking about. Well, Tristan made a trip back to Hartford this spring to visit his cousin. There he met his cousin's girlfriend, who turned out to be none other than His Mary. Of course, as luck would have it, Rory and Logan were breaking up. Tristan and Rory immediately fell head over heels in love with each other, grateful to have a second chance to continue what they started all those years ago. And now, here we are." The crowd clapped and cheered again.

"Now that you know what happened in their past, I can tell you something about their future. Rory, you look beautiful tonight by the way, I know that you make this man very very happy. I'm so glad you are a member of this family. Tristan, don't do anything stupid to let her get away again. She loves you, and we do too." He got down and gave Tristan and Rory hugs.

"It's show time." Tristan whispered as he grabbed the microphone out of Noah's hand.

"Thank you. You are too kind." Tristan said to the crowd. "Let's give Noah and Laura a hand for their creative and wonderful presentation." Rory grabbed Lorelei and pulled her to the back of the crowd.

"What are you doing?"

"I have a surprise for you!" Rory whispered as she picked up a bouquet of white roses.

"I know we told you that this was an engagement party, but we lied." Tristan said.

"Rory, why are you holding flowers?" Lorelei said in a nervous voice. Just then the screen was removed to show the Reverend standing with his Bible. The crowd gasped.

"The wedding is tonight." Rory said. "And you are giving me away."


	23. The Ceremony

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N: I know very little about weddings, so I don't yell at me if it's not the proper ceremony.

"What?" Lorelei couldn't move. She was in a complete state of shock.

"Tristan, what are you talking about?" His parents asked. "We've been planning a wedding for a month now in Hartford. This is so typical of you, you never care about what's best for you."

"Lorelei, you can't be serious. This is not the proper way for this to be done, we've already made a guest list." Emily harped from behind her.

"Rory, are you sure you want to do this now? I mean,"

"HEY!" Tristan shouted from the stage. The entire place fell silent. "Thank you. Now, I know that this isn't what you may have planned out for either of us, but this is what we want. So." He turned to his parents. "If you want to stay and watch your only son get married, I would appreciate it, but no one is keeping you here." He turned to Emily and Richard. "If you disagree with what Rory and I want, then you are more than welcome to leave. However, if you are to stay, you must at least pretend to be happy for us. Now," he said with a huge smile on his face "I'm going to marry the girl of my dreams and no one is going to say or do anything to ruin this for either of us. Understood?" Not a sound escaped from the crowd. "Ok." He winked at Rory and took his place on the gazebo. "We're ready when you are Reverend."

"I'm not ready to give you away." Lorelei said with tears in her eyes.

"Mom, you aren't giving me away, you are walking down a candle lit runway and then you are sitting down. Pretend you are on America's Next Top Model. It will be fun."

"Promise?"

"I promise, nothing is going to change. It's going to be like it has been all summer."

"I'm holding you to that." She said. "The number of movie nights that we will have to have to make up for this is staggering."

"Ok. Are you ready?"

"You're the one getting married and you have to comfort me. There is something so wrong with this situation."

"I'm taking that as a yes." She nodded to the piano player and he started to play. Rory took the first step and then Lorelei followed. Slowly but surely they made their way up to the front of the aisle.

"You break her heart, I break you. Remember?" Lorelei said through her tears.

"I remember. A promise is a promise." He said as he took Rory's hand. Lorelei sat down and was immediately comforted by Luke, but she reached out for Christopher's hand. He grabbed it and held it tight.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate the love of Tristan and Rory." Rory and Tristan never broke eye contact throughout the entire speech.

"I love you," Rory whispered.

"I love you too." Tristan whispered back.

"Tristan and Rory have chosen to write their own vows. We will start with Tristan."

"You're the writer so I'm just going to keep this short." Rory smiled. "Ror, you are my everything, and everyday I find another reason to fall in love with you. I could stand up here and talk forever about why I love you and the amazing things that you have done in my life and yet there are no words to explain how much I love you." Rory was crying freely now, which in turn made him tear up. "Stop crying, so I can get through this." He joked as he wiped his eyes and the crowd laughed. "Life with you will never be boring, and I look forward to sharing every adventure that life throws our way, for better or worse. I love you."

"I love you too." She smiled as she wiped her eyes. "My turn," she said as she handed her bouquet to her mother. She took out a sheet of paper.

"I made a list," She said with a wink and everyone laughed. "of everything I love about you. For example, I love the way you slip into a southern drawl whenever you get done talking to someone from North Carolina. I love the way your hair looks when you wake up in the morning. I love how you give me any section of the paper I want even when you haven't finished reading the article. I love the way you still manage to keep me on my toes and push every single one of my buttons. Just to name a few. Mostly, I love the way you make me feel. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and I can't even imagine my life without you in it." Tristan smiled.

"Tristan, do you take this woman to be your wife?"

"I do."

"Rory, do you take this man to be your husband?"

"I do."

"May we have the rings?" Noah handed the rings over to Tristan. "Tristan, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed." He said as he slipped his grandmother's ring on her finger.

"Rory, repeat after me, With this ring, I thee wed."

"With this ring, I thee wed." She said as she placed Janlan's ring on Tristan's finger.

"Then by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Everyone stood and clapped as Tristan and Rory kissed.

"Oh my God, we actually did it." Rory said as they pulled apart.

"Come on Mary, let's go for a walk." He said with a smirk.

The music started again as they walked down the aisle together hand in hand, ready to face the world.

A/N: I know I know….Really cheesy right? I couldn't help it. I hope it's Gouda and not squirt can cheese.


	24. Happily Ever After

All right guys, this has been fun. I have officially completed my first fanfic! I'm very proud of myself. This also means that I will be able to give my full attention to Changes. So, if you are also reading that story, it should be updating a lot faster. Then again, who knows? Thank you guys so much for all of your support and I really love you all. Kisses!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

After the wedding, Tristan and Rory ran over to the diner while they set up for the reception. It was quiet there and they could get some perspective on what just happened.

"I almost thought it wasn't going to happen." Rory said.

"Why did you think that?" he frowned at her.

"I mean, our way. When I saw the look on my mom's face, I thought it wasn't going to happen."

"She doesn't want to lose you, and who could blame her?" He said as he kissed her. Rory let out a soft sigh as his lips traveled up her jawbone and behind her ear.

"Hey," she giggled. "I think we forgot something."

"Hmm?" He said still kissing her, this time slipping lower to cover her neck and collarbone.

"Where are we going for our honeymoon?"

"London," he said as he kissed her. " Or Paris. Maybe somewhere warm. You name it, we're there." He paused only to look into her eyes.

"Italy." She said as a smile spread across her face.

"Italy it is then." He said making her wish come true. He was glad to have enough money to support her, and he loved spoiling her.

"Come on, they're done setting up now." She said as she pulled away.

"They can't wait?" She shook her head and started walking backwards to the door. His hands still in hers.

"Italy, you and me, with nothing to do. Doesn't that sound nice."

"Nice isn't the word I would use to describe it." He said with a smirk.

OOOOO

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to thank you all for being so cooperative tonight. I know we flew a lot of surprises at you and you have been lovely. Now for the first time, I would like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Tristan and Rory DuGray!" The crowd cheered and they walked back out. "And now, for the first dance." Tristan and Rory looked at each other and started laughing as the music began to play. Their song was 'It had to be you' by Frank Sinatra. It was perfect. Rory leaned her cheek against his and let everything soak in.

"It had to be you." He whispered in her ear, sending chills down her spine. As the song ended, everyone came out onto the dance floor.

"At this point, do you think they would notice if we left?" she asked as she wrapped her arms tighter around Tristan. He shrugged.

"Maybe after a couple of them get smashed."

"This was by far, the best wedding I've ever been to." Rory giggled, unable to contain her joy.

"I would have to agree." Tristan said as he spun her around.

"May I cut in?" Noah asked as he danced by with Lorelei.

"By all means, go ahead." Tristan said, taking Lorelei in his arms.

"I'm sorry we surprised you like that. I thought that Rory should tell you, but she wanted to keep it a secret."

"It's ok. I understand why you did it. It was a nice wedding."

"Yeah it was. It really meant a lot to Rory that you were supportive of this decision. She wouldn't have gone through with it if you weren't ok with it."

"That's not true. Look at her, she loves you." Lorelei said with a smile on her face. "Besides, this way I don't have to deal with my mother's incessant calling about colors and china patterns."

"Yeah, but she loves you more. She told me that if you weren't ok, we would have to go through with the Hartford wedding."

"Yes. Well, the two of you are up for some major Hartford drama. When did you decide to pull this off anyway?"

"At Noah and Laura's wedding. We just wanted something simple and laid back that all of our family and friends could be at. We didn't want the whole society wedding, especially after all the drama at the beginning of the summer, it just didn't feel right. We figured a surprise wedding was better than eloping."

"I guess so. So where are you two going for your honeymoon?" He dipped her and said.

"Italy." She stood back up and looked at him.

"Really? So you guys really have planned this all out. I'm impressed."

"Do you honestly think that Rory would have it any other way? She is not a spur of the moment kind of person."

"Ah that's not true, how do you think she fell in love with you?" Lorelei teased. "But I have to ask, what are you guys doing when the summer is over? You both have to finish school, are you keeping your apartment in the city?"

"We're doing the long distance thing. As much as I hate to think about it, it's probably for the best. I'm graduating in December and then I'll come back and work in the city. When Rory graduates, we'll take it from there."

"If anyone can do it, it's you two. I believe that." The song stopped and Lorelei gave him a hug. "Welcome to the family."

"Thanks for the dance." He said as he kissed her hand.

"The pleasure was all mine." She curtsied and walked away.

After the reception, a limo pulled up signaling the end of the night. Tristan and Rory said goodbye to everyone and climbed in. Once they were out of sight, Rory rolled up the window.

"Finally." She said as moved over to straddle Tristan. She leaned in to kiss him and they were immediately swept up in each other. As Rory pushed his jacket off his shoulders, Tristan ran his fingers through her hair and began to kiss her neck. Rory moaned and instinctively arched into him.

"Mary," he practically moaned out her name. "Are you," Tristan closed his eyes, swallowed and tried again. He had to give her credit. She knew exactly how to distract a man from his point. "Are you sure you want to do this? Here, I mean." Rory stopped and started undressing herself.

"Tristan, do you really want to question this?" That, combined with the fact that Rory was almost completely naked by now, was enough to shut him up.

OOOOO

When Rory woke up, two arms surrounded her. She had fallen asleep on Tristan's chest and his arms were possessively wrapped around her back. She always loved waking up in his arms, but today was different. Today was the first day of the rest of their life together, and she couldn't have been happier about it. As she thought about their wedding and the tryst in the limo, she couldn't stop smiling. It was incredibly sappy and cliché but it was true. She was Mrs. Tristan DuGray. It was hard to believe that only 6 months ago they were being re-introduced to one another. Now she couldn't imagine her life without him. As she glanced up at his still form and watched him sleeping, only one thought entered her mind, Everything's perfect.


End file.
